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GAV'S SERIES OF STANDARD HISTORIES. 

FIRST SERIES. 

THREE GREAT MODERN NATIONS. 

FROM THE EARLIEST PERIODS TO 1S34. 



OUR 

GREAT REPUBLIC 

AND THE EARLY DISCOVERIES. 



AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY OF 



The United States of America to 1884, 



BY JOSEPH H. BEALE, A.M. 



WITH COMPLETE ESTDEX, CHKONOLOGICAL CHART OF AMERICAN LITERATURE, DECLA- 
RATION OF IKDEPENDEKCE, CONSTITUTION, EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, 

LESSONS FROM OUR HISTORY. 




NEW HAVEN, CONN.: 

WILLIAM GAY AND COMPANY, 

SUCCESSORS TO GAY BROTHERS. 



\ ^ ^ "-y^ 







E. B. SHELDON & CO., 

Compositors and Electrotypers 
New Haven. Conn. 



WILLIAM GAY & CO., 
Printers and Binders, 
New H.vven, Conn. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Histor}' : An Essay by'Lord Macaulay 9 

Introduction 21 

I. The Age of Discovery and Settlement 23 

The Story of Columbus 24 

The English and Spanish Discoveries 26 

The Early Settlements 28 

The Settlement of New England 29 

The Indian War 32 

Settlement of New York 34 

The Land of Penn 35 

Settlement in the other Colonies 36 

II. The Colonial Period 3^ 

The Growth and Government of the Colonies 41 

III. The War of Independence ; The Gathering Cloud 45 

The Bursting of the Storm 50 

George Washington, Commander-in-Chief 53 

John Hancock 54 

Benjamin Franklin ; Israel Putnam 55 

Patrick Henry, the Orator 5^ 

Samuel Adams 57 

Battle of Bunker Hill and Siege of Boston 59 

The Declaration of Independence 65 

The Progress of the War 66 

The French Aid to the Colonies 68 

The Campaign of 1777 and 1778 , 7° 

The Wyoming Massacre 74 

The War in 1779 and 1780 76 

The First and only Traitor "° 

The Closing Years of the Struggle ^^ 

IV. The Constitutional Period 86 

Administration of Washington °9 

Administration of John Adams 9- 

Administration of Thomas Jefferson 93 

Administration of James Madison 96 

Second War for Independence "97 

Tiie Battle of New Orleans 99 



IV 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Administration of James Monroe loi 

Lafayette (Sketch and Visit) 102 

Administration of John Ouincy Adams 104 

Administration of Andrew Jacl<son 105 

Administration of Martin Van Buren 107 

Administration of Harrison and Tyler loS 

Administration of Polk and Mexican War 1 09 

V. The Period of Agitation 114 

Administration of Zacharj- Taylor 1 22 

Administration of Millard Fillmore 123 

Administration of Franklin Pierce 125 

The Struggle in Kansas ; Administration of James Buchanan 130 

\'I. The Civil War; Administration of Abraham Lincoln 13S 

The Operations of 1 862 144 

The Emancipation Proclamation 152 

The Military Operations of i S63 153 

The Military Operations of 1864 162 

The Closing Events of the War 169 

\'IL Reconstruction and Progress; Administration of Andrew Johnson 172 

Administration of Ulysses S. Grant 174 

The Centennial Exhibition 179 

Administration of Rutherford B. Hayes 181 

Administration of James A. Garfield 1S3 

Administration of Chester A. Arthur 185 

Progress and Development since the Civil War 190 

James Abram Garfield (Poem) 193 

Our Position Among the Nations ; Lessons Taught in Our History 194 

Our Hero Dead (Poem) 202 

The Death of Public Men in 1883 203 

Declaration of Independence 205 

Constitution of the United States 209 

Amendments to Constitution 218 

The Emancipation Proclamation 221 

The XLVIL Congress 22'? 

^ * J 



HISTOEI; AN ESSA! BY LOED MAGAnLAY. 




O write history respectably — that is, to abbreviate dis- 
patches, and make extracts from speeches, to intersperse 
in due proportion epithets of praise and abhorrence, to 
draw up antithetical characters of great men, setting 
forth how many contradictory virtues and vices they 
united, and abounding in iviths and loitlumts — all this 
is very easy. But to be a really great historian is pcr- 
laps the rarest of intellectual distinctions. Many scientific 
,3- works are, in their kind, absolutely perfect. There are poems 
:3- which we should be inclined to designate as faultless, or as dis- 
figured only by blemishes which pass unnoticed in the general 
blaze of excellence. There are speeches, some speeches of 
tr Demosthenes particularly, in which it would be impossible to 
' '■ ^'ord without altering it for the worse. But we are 

^'^"v/^*^ acquainted with no history which approaches to our notion of 
/%^V^ what a history ought to be- — with no history which does not 
W widely depart, either on the right hand or on the left, from the 
exact line. The cause may easily be assigned. This province of literature is 
a debatable land. It lies on the confines of two distinct territories. It is 
under the jurisdiction of two hostile powers ; and, like other districts similarly 
situated, it is ill defined, ill cultivated, and ill regulated. Instead of being 
equally shared between its two rulers, the reason and the imagination, it falls 
alternately under the sole and absolute dominion of each. It is sometimes 
fiction. It is sometimes theory. History, it has been said, is philosophy 
teaching by examples. Unhappily what the philosopher gains in soundness 
and depth, the examples generally lose in vividness. A perfect historian must 
possess an imagination sufficiently powerful to make his narrative affecting 
and picturesque ; yet he must control it so absolutely as to content himself 
with the materials which he finds, and to refrain from supplying deficiencies 
by additions of his own. He must be a profound and ingenious reasoner; 
yet he must posssess sufficient self-command to abstain from casting his facts 
in the mold of his hypothesis. It maybe laid down as a general rule, though 
subject to considerable qualifications and exceptions, that history begins in 
novel and ends in essay. Of the romantic historians, Herodotus is the earliest 
and the best. There are passages in Herodotus nearly as long as acts of 
Shakespeare, in which everything is told dramatically, and in which the narrative 
serves only the purpose of stage-directions. It is possible, no doubt, that the 
substance of some real conversations may have been reported to the historian. 



lo HISTORY : 

The great events are, no doubt, faithfully related. So, probably, are many of 
the slighter circumstances ; but which of them it is impossible to ascertain. 
The fictions are so much like the facts, and the facts so much like the fictions, 
that, with respect to many most interesting particulars our belief is neither 
given nor withheld, but remains in an uneasy and mterminable state of abey- 
ance. We know that there is truth, but we cannot exactly decide where it 
lies. 

Herodotus wrote as it was natural that he should write. He wrote for a 
nation susceptible, curious, lively, insatiably desirous of novelty and excite- 
ment ; for a nation in which the fine arts had attained their highest excellence, 
but in which philosophy was still in its infancy. His countrymen had but 
recently begun to cultivate prose composition. Public transactions had gen- 
erally been recorded in verse. The first historians might therefore indulge, 
without fear of censure, in the license allowed to their predecessors the bards. 
Books were few. The events of former times were learned from tradition and 
from popular ballads : the manners of foreign countries from the reports of 
travelers. For such a people was the book of Herodotus composed ; and if 
we may trust to a report, not sanctioned, indeed, by writers of high author- 
ity, but in itself not improbable, it was composed not to be read, but to be 
heard. The great Olympian festival — the solemnity which collected multi- 
tudes, proud of the Grecian name, from the wildest mountains of Doris and 
the remotest colonies of Italy and Libya — was to witness his triumph. The 
interest of the narrative and the beauty of the style were aided by the impos- 
ing elTect of recitation — by the splendor of the spectacle — by the powerful 
influence of sympathy. They now heard of the exact accomplishment of 
obscure predictions ; of the punishment of crimes over which the' justice of 
Heaven had seemed to slumber; of dreams, omens, warnings from the dead ; 
of princesses for whom noble suitors contended in every generous exercise of 
strength and skill ; of infants strangely preserved from the dagger of the 
assassin to fulfill high destinies. As the narrative approached their own times 
the interest became still more absorbing. The chronicler had now to tell the 
story of that great conflict from which Europe dates its intellectual and polit- 
ical supremacy — a story which, even at this distance of time, is the most mar- 
velous and the most touching in the annals of the human race— a story 
abounding with all that is wild and wonderful, with all that is pathetic and 
animating; with the gigantic caprices of infinite wealth and despotic power ; 
with the mightier miracles of wisdom, of virtue, and of courage. 

Between the time at which Herodotus is said to have composed his 
history and the close of the Peloponnesian war about forty years elapsed — 
forty years crowded with great military and political events. The history of 
Thucydides di.fers from that of Herodotus as a portrait differs from the 
representation of an imaginary scene. The faculties which are required for 
the latter purpose are of a higher and rarer order than those which suffice 
for the former, and, indeed, necessarily comprise them. He who is able to 
paint what he sees with the eye of the mind, will surely be able to paint 



AN ESSAY BY LORD MACAULAY. ii 

what he sees with the eye of the body. He who can invent a story and tell 
it well, will also be able to tell, in an interesting manner, a story which he 
has not invented. Some capricious and discontented artists have affected to 
consider portrait-painting as unworthy of a man of' genius. Some critics 
have spoken in the same contemptuous manner of history. Johnson puts 
the case thus : The historian tells either what is false or what is true. In the 
former case he is no historian ; in the latter, he has no opportunity for 
displaying his abilities. For truth is one, and all who tell the truth must tell 
it alike. The account which Thucydides has given of the retreat from 
Syracuse is, among narratives, what Vandyck's Lord Strafford is among 
paintings. Diversity, it is said, implies error ; truth is one, and admits of no 
degree. We answer that this principle holds good only in abstract reasonings. 
When we talk of the truth of imitation in the fine arts, we mean an imperfect 
and a graduated truth. No picture is exactly like the original : nor is a 
picture good in proportion as it is like the original. No picture, then, and 
no history, can present us with the whole truth ; but those are the best 
pictures and the best histories which exhibit such parts of the truth as most 
nearly produce the effect of the whole. 

History has its foreground and its background, and it is principally in 
the management of its perspective that one artist differs from another. 
Some events must be represented on a large scale, others diminished : the 
great majority will be lost in the dimness of the horizon, and a general idea 
of their joint effect will be given by a few slight touches. In this respect no 
writer has ever equaled Thucydides. He was a perfect master of the art of 
gradual diminution. His history is sometimes as concise as a chronological 
chart ; yet it is always perspicuous. It is sometimes as minute as one of 
Lovelace's letters ; yet it is never prolix. He never fails to contract and to 
expand it in the right place. Thucydides borrowed from Herodotus the 
practice of putting speeches of his own into the mouths of his characters. 
In Herodotus this usage is scarcely censurable. It is of a piece with his 
whole manner. But it is altogether incongruous in the work of his successor ; 
and violates, not only the accuracy of history, but the decencies of fiction. 

Thucydides honestly tells us that some of these discourses are purely 
fictitious. He may have reported the substance of others correctly ; but it 
is clear from the internal evidence that he has preserved no more than the 
substance. In spite of this great fault, it must be allowed that Thucydides 
has surpassed all his rivals in the art of historical narration, in the art of 
producing an effect on the imagination, by skillful selection and disposition, 
without indulging in the license of invention. 

Thucydides was undoubtedly a sagacious and reflecting man. This 
clearly appears from the ability with which he discusses practical questions. 
But the talent of deciding on the circumstances of a particular case is often 
possessed in the highest perfection by persons destitute of the power of 
generalization. The Grecian statesmen of the age of Thucydides were 
distinguished by their practical sagacity, their insight into motives, their 



12 HISTORY: ' 

skill in devising means for the attainment of their ends. In this school 
Thucydides studied ; and his wisdom is that which such a school would 
naturally afford. He judges better of circumstances than of principles. 
The more a question is narrowed, the better he reasons upon it. His work 
suggests many most important considerations respecting the first principles 
of government and morals, the growth of factions, the organization of 
armies, and the mutual relations of communities. Yet all his general 
observations on these subjects are very superficial. His feelings are rarely 
indulged, and speedily repressed. Vulgar prejudices of every kind, and 
particularly vulgar superstitions, he treats with a cold and sober disdain 
peculiar to himself. His style is weighty, condensed, antithetical, and not 
unfrequently obscure. But when we look at his political philosophy, without 
regard to these circumstances, we find him to have been, what indeed it 
would have been a miracle if he had not been, simply an Athenian of the 
fifth century before Christ. 

Xenophon is commonly placed, but we think without much reason, in 
the same rank with Herodotus and Thucydides. The life of Cyrus, whether 
we look upon it as a history or as a romance, seems to us a very wretched 
performance. The Expedition of the Ten Thousand, and the History of 
Grecian Affairs, are certainly pleasant reading ; but they indicate no great 
power of mind. In truth, Xenophon, though his taste was elegant, his 
disposition amiable, and his intercourse with the world extensive, had, we 
suspect, rather a weak head. He would have made an excellent member of 
the Apostolic Camarilla. An alarmist by nature, an aristocrat by party, he 
carried to an unreasonable excess his horror of popular turbulence. The quiet 
atrocity of Sparta did not shock him in the same manner ; for he hated 
tumult more than crimes. He was desirous to find restraints which might 
curb the passions of the multitude ; and he absurdly fancied that he had 
found them in a religion without evidences of sanction, precepts or example 
— in a frigid system of theophilanthropy, supported by nursery tales. 

Polybius and Arrian deserve high praise, when compared with the writers 
of that school of which Plutarch may be considered as the head. For the 
historians of this class we must confess that we entertain a peculiar aversion. 
They seem to have been pedants, who, though destitute of those valuable 
qualities which are frequently found in conjunction with pedantry, thought 
themselves great philosophers and great politicians. They not only mislead 
their readers in every page, as to particular facts, but they appear to have 
altogether misconceived the whole character of the times of which they write. 
They were inhabitants of an empire bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the 
Euphrates, by the ice of Scythia and the sands of Mauritania ; composed of 
nations whose manners, whose languages, whose religion, whose countenances 
and complexions, were widely different, governed by one mighty despotism, 
which had risen on the ruins of a thousand commonwealths and kingdoms. 
Enthusiastically attached to the name of liberty, these historians troubled 
themselves little about its definition. The Spartans, tormented by ten 



AN ESSAY BY LORD IMACAULAY. 13 

thousand absurd restraints, unable to please themselves in the choice of their 
wives, their suppers, or their company, compelled to assume a peculiar 
manner, and to talk in a peculiar style, gloried in their liberty. The aristocracy 
of Rome repeatedly made liberty a plea for cutting off the favorites of the 
people. In almost all the little commonwealths of antiquity, liberty was 
used as a pretext for measures directed against everything which makes 
liberty valuable, for measures which stifled discussion, corrupted the adminis- 
tration of justice, and discouraged the accumulation of property. The 
writers whose works we are considering confounded the sound with the 
substance, and the means with the end. 

The writings of these men, and of their modern imitators, have produced 
effects which deserve some notice. The English have been so long accustomed 
to political speculation, and have enjoyed so large a measure of practical 
liberty, that such works have produced little effect on their minds. We have 
classical associations and great names of our own, which we can confidently 
oppose to the most splendid of ancient times. Senate has not to our ears a 
sound so venerable as parliament. We respect the Great Charter more than 
the laws of Solon. The Capitol and the Forum impress us with less awe 
than our own Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey, the place where the 
great men of twenty generations have contended, the place where they sleep 
together ! The list of warriors and statesmen by whom our constitution was 
founded or preserved, from De Montfort down to Fox, may well stand a 
comparison with the Fasti of Rome. The dying thanksgiving of Sidney is as 
noble as the libation which Thrasea poured to Liberating Jove: and we think 
with far less pleasure of Cato tearing out his entrails, than of Russell saying, 
as he turned away from his wife, that the bitterness of death was past. Here, 
the effect of books, such as those we have been considering, has been 
harmless. They have, indeed, given currency to many very erroneous 
opinions with respect to ancient history. They have heated the imagination 
of boys. They have misled the judgment, and corrupted the taste of some 
men of letters, such as Akenside and Sir William Jones. But on persons 
engaged in public affairs they have had very little influence. The foundations 
of our constitution were laid by men who knew nothing of the Greeks, but 
that they denied the orthodox procession, and cheated the crusaders ; and 
nothing of Rome, but the pope lived there. 

Livy had some faults in common with these writers. But, on the whole, 
he must be considered as forming a class by himself. No historian with 
whom we are acquainted has shown so complete an indifference to truth. He 
seems to have cared only about the picturesque effect of his book and the 
honor of his country. On the other hand, we do not know, in the whole 
range of literature, an instance of a bad thing so well done. The painting of 
the narrative is beyond description vivid and graceful. All the merits and all 
the defects of Livy take a coloring from the character of his nation. He was 
a writer peculiarly Roman ; the proud citizen of a commonwealth which had, 
indeed, lost the reality of liberty, but which still sacredly preserved its 



14 HISTORY: 

forms — in fact, the subject of an arbitrary prince, but in his own estimation 
one of the masters of the world, with a hundred kings below him, and only 
the gods above him. He, therefore, looked back on former times with 
feelings far different from those which were naturally entertained by his 
Greek contemporaries, and which at a later period became general among 
men of letters throughout the Roman empire. He contemplated the past 
with interest and delight, not because it furnished a contrast to the present, 
but because it had led to the present. Of the concise and elegant accounts 
of the campaigns of Caesar little can be said. They are incomparable models 
for military dispatches; but histories they are not, and do not pretend to be. 

The ancient critics placed Sallust in the same rank with Livy ; and 
unquestionably the small portion of his works which has come down to us is 
calculated to give a high opinion of his talents. But his style is not very 
pleasant ; and his most powerful work, the account of the Conspiracy of 
Catiline, has rather the air of a clever party pamphlet than that of a history. 
It abounds with strange inconsistencies, which, unexplained as they are, 
necessarily excite doubts as to the fairness of the narrative. Sallust tells us, 
what, indeed, the letters and speeches of Cicero sufficiently prove, that some 
persons considered the shocking and atrocious parts of the plot as mere 
inventions of the government, designed to excuse its unconstitutional 
measures. We must confess ourselves to be of that opinion. There was, 
undoubtedly, a strong party desirous to change the administration. If our 
readers think this skepticism unreasonable, let them turn to the contemporary 
account of the popish plot. Let them look over the votes of parliament, 
and the speeches of the king ; the charges of Scroggs, and the harangues of 
the managers employed against Strafford. A person who should form his 
judgment from these pieces alone would believe that London was set on fire 
by the papists, and that Sir Edmondbury Godfrey was murdered for his 
religion. Yet these stories are now altogether exploded. In the delineation 
of character, Tacitus is unrivaled among historians, and has very few 
superiors among dramatists and novelists. By the delineation of character, 
we do not mean the practice of drawing up epigrammatic catalogues of good 
and bad qualities, and appending them to the names of eminent men. No 
writer, indeed, has done this more skillfully than Tacitus ; but this is not his 
peculiar glory. All the persons who occupy a large space in his works have 
an individuality of character which seems to pervade all their words and 
actions. We know them as if we had lived with them. Claudius, Nero, 
Otho, both the Agrippinas, are masterpieces. But Tiberius is a still higher 
miracle of art. The historian undertook to make us intimately acquainted 
with a man singularly dark and inscrutable — with a man whose real disposition 
long remained swathed up in intricate folds of factitious virtues. The talent 
which is required to write history thus, bears a considerable affinity to the 
talent of a great dramatist. There is one obvious distinction. The dramatist 
creates, the historian only disposes. The difference is not in the mode of 
execution, but in the mode of conception. Shakespeare is guided by a model 



AN ESSAY BY LORD MACAULAY. 15 

which exists in his imagination ; Tacitus, by a model furnished from without. 
Hamlet is to Tiberius what the Laocoon is to the Newton of Roubilliac. In 
this part of his act Tacitus certainly had neither equal nor second among the 
ancient historians. 

History commenced among the modern nations of Europe, as it had 
commenced among the Greeks, in romance. Froissart was our Herodotus. 
In our own country, a writer who should venture on it would be laughed to 
scorn. Whether the historians of the last two centuries tell more truth than 
those of antiquity, may perhaps be doubted. But it is quite certain that they 
tell fewer falsehoods. In the philosophy of history, the moderns have very 
far surpassed the ancients. It is not, indeed, strange that the Greeks and 
Romans should not have carried the science of government, or any other 
experimental science, so far as it has been carried in our time. In taste and 
imagination, in the graces of style, in the arts of persuasion, in the magnifi- 
cence of public works, the ancients were at least our equals. They reasoned 
as justly as ourselves on subjects which required pure demonstration. But in 
the moral sciences they made scarcely any advance. In our own country, the 
sound doctrines of trade and jurisprudence have been, within the lifetime of 
a single generation, dimly hinted, boldly propounded, defended, systematized, 
adopted by all reflecting men of all parties, quoted in legislative assemblies, 
incorporated into laws and treaties. To what is this change to be attributed ? 
Partly, no doubt, to the discovery of printing — a discovery which has not 
only diffused knowledge widely, but as we have already observed, has also 
introduced into reasoning a precision unknown in those ancient communities, 
in which information was, for the most part, conveyed orally. There was, we 
suspect, another cause, less obvious, but still more powerful. 

The spirit of the two most famous nations of antiquity was remarkably 
exclusive. In the time of Homer, the Greeks had not begun to consider 
themselves as a distinct race. The literature of Rome herself was regarded 
with contempt by those who had fled before her arms, and who bowed beneath 
her fasces. Voltaire says, in one of his six thousand pamphlets, that he was 
the first person who told the French that England had produced eminent men 
besides the duke of Marlborough. Down to a very late period, the Greeks 
seem to have stood in need of similar information with respect to their mas- 
ters. The Romans submitted to the pretensions of a race which they 
despised. Their epic poet, while he claimed for them pre-eminence in the 
arts of government and war, acknowledged their inferiority in taste, eloquence 
and science. Men of letters affected to understand the Greek language 
better than their own. Many eminent Romans appear to have felt the same 
contempt for their native tongue as compared with the Greek. The prejudice 
continued to a very late period. Julian was as partial to the Greek language 
as Frederick the Great to the P'rench ; and it seems that he could not express 
himself with elegance in the dialect of the State which he ruled. The fact 
seems to be, that the Greeks admired only themselves, and that the Romans 
admired only themselves and the Greeks. Literary men turned away with 



i6 HISTORY: 

disgust from modes of thought and expression so widely different from all 
that they had been accustomed to admire. The effect was narrowness and 
sameness of thought. Their minds, if we may so express ourselves, bred in 
and in, and were accordingly cursed with barrenness and degeneracy. No 
extraneous beauty or vigor was engrafted on the decaying stock. Philosophy 
remained stationary. Slight changes, sometimes for the worse and sometimes 
for the better, were made in the superstructure. But nobody thought of 
examining the foundations. 

The victory of Christianity over paganism, considered with relation to 
this subject only, was of great importance. It overthrew the old system of 
morals, and with it much of the old system of metaphysics. It furnished 
the orator with new topics of declamation, and the logician with new points of 
controversy. Above all, it introduced a new principle, of which the opera- 
tion was constantly felt in every part of society. It stirred the stagnant mass 
from the inmost depths. It excited all the passions of a stormy democracy 
in the quiet and listless population of an overgrown empire. The fear of 
heresy did what the sense of oppression could not do; it changed men, 
accustomed to be turned over like sheep from tyrant to tyrant, into devoted 
partisans and obstinate rebels. The tones of an eloquence which had been 
silent for ages resounded from the pulpit of Gregory. A spirit which had 
been extinguished on the plains of Philippi revived in Athanasius and 
Ambrose. Yet even this remedy was not sufficiently violent for the disease. 
It did not prevent the empire of Constantinople from relapsing, after a 
short paroxysm of excitement, into a state of stupefaction to which history 
furnishes scarcely any parallel. We there find that a polished society, a 
society in which a most intricate and elaborate system of jurisprudence was 
established, in which the arts of luxury were well understood, in which the 
Vv'orks of the great ancient writers were preserved and studied — existed for 
nearly a thousand years without making one great discovery in science, or 
producing one book which is read by any but curious inquirers. From this 
miserable state the Western Empire was saved by the fiercest and most 
destroying visitation with which God has ever chastened his creatures — the 
invasion of the Northern nations. Such a cure was required for such a 
distemper. It cost Europe a thousand years of barbarism to escape the fate 
of China. At length the terrible purification was accomplished ; and the 
second civilization of mankind commenced, under circumstances which 
afforded a strong security that it would never retrograde and never pause, 
Europe was now a great federal community. Her numerous States were 
united by the easy tics of international law and a common religion. Their 
institutions, their languages, their manners, their tastes in literature, their 
modes of education, were widely different. Their connection was close 
enough to allow of mutual observation and improvement, yet not so close as 
to destroy the idioms of natural opinion and feeling. The balance of moral 
and intellectual influence, thus established between the nations of Europe, is 
far more important than the balance of political power. Indeed, we are 



AN ESSAY BY LORD MACAULAY. 17 

inclined to think that the latter is valuable principally because it tends to 
maintain the former. The civilized world has thus been preserved from a 
uniformity of character fatal to all improvements. The historians of our own 
country are unequaled in depth and precision of reason ; and even in the 
works of our mere cbmpilers we often meet with speculations beyond the 
reach of Thucydides or Tacitus. But it must at the same time be admitted 
that they have characteristic faults, so closely connected with their character- 
istic merits and of such magnitude that it may well be doubted whether, on 
the whole, this department of literature has gained or lost during the last 
two-and-twenty centuries. 

The best historians of later times have been seduced from truth, not by 
their imagination, but by their reason. They far excel their predecessors in 
the art of deducing general principles from facts. But unhappily they have 
fallen into the error of distorting facts to suit general principles. They 
arrive at a theory from looking at some of the phenomena, and the remaining 
phenomena they strain or curtail to suit the theory. This species of misrep- 
resentation abounds in the most valuable works of modern historians. Herod- 
otus tells his story like a slovenly witness, who, heated by partialities and 
prejudicies, unacquainted with the established rules of evidence, and unin- 
structed as to the obligations of his oath, confounds what he imagines with 
what he has seen and heard, and brings out facts, reports, conjectures, and 
fancies in one mass. Hume is an accomplished advocate. Without 
positively asserting much more than he can prove, he gives prominence to 
all the circumstances which support his case; he glides lightly over those 
which are unfavorable to it ; his own witnesses are applauded and encouraged ; 
the statements which seem to throw discredit on them are controverted ; the 
contradictions into which they fall are explained away ; a clear and connected 
abstract of their evidence is given. Everything that is offered on the other 
side is scrutinized with the utmost severity; every suspicious circumstance 
is a ground for comment and invective ; what cannot be denied is extenuated 
or passed by without notice ; concessions even are sometimes made ; but 
this insiduous candor only increases the effect of the vast mass of sophistry. 
Gibbon, in particular, deserves veiy severe censure. Of all the numeroHs 
culprits, however, none is more deeply guilty than Mr. Mitford. We 
willingly acknowledge the obligations which are due to his talents and indus- 
try. The modern historians of Greece had been in the habit of writing as if 
the world had learned nothing new during the last sixteen hundred years. 
They considered all the ancient historians as equally authentic. They scarcely 
made any distinction between him who related events at which he had himself 
been present, and him who five hundred years after composed a philosophical 
romance for a society which had in the interval undergone a complete change. 
It was all Greek and all true. Mr. Mitford certainly introduced great 
improvements : he showed us that men who wrote in Greek and Latin some- 
times told lies : he showed us that ancient history might be related in such 
a manner as to furnish not only allusions to school-boys, but important 



i8 HISTORY- 

lessons to statesmen. From that love of theatrical effect and high-flown 
sentiment which had poisoned almost every other work on the same subject, 
his book is perfectly free. 

The practice of distorting narrative into a conformity with theory is a 
vice not so unfavorable as at first sight it may appear to the interest of polit- 
ical science. We have compared the writers who indulge in it to advocates ; 
and we may add that their conflicting fallacies, like those of advocates, correct 
each other. 

This is at present the state of history. The poet-laureate appears for the 
Church of England, Lingard for the Church of Rome. Brodie has moved to 
set aside the verdicts obtained by Hume; and the cause in which Mitford 
succeeded is, we understand, about to be reheard. In the midst of these dis- 
putes, however, history proper, if we may use the term, is disappearing. The 
high, grave, impartial summing up of Thucydides is nowhere to be found. 
That a writer may produce these effects without violating truth is sufficiently 
proved by many excellent biographical works. The immense popularity 
which well-written books of this kind have acquired deserves the serious con- 
sideration of historians. Voltaire's Charles the Twelfth, Marmontel's Me- 
moirs, Boswell's Life of Johnson, Southey's account of Nelson, are perused 
with delight by the most frivolous and indolent. 

The writers of history seem to entertain an aristocratical contempt for 
the writers of memoirs. They think it beneath the dignity of men who 
describe the revolutions of nations, to dwell on the details which constitute 
the charm of biography. The most characteristic and interesting circum- 
stances are omitted or softened down, because, as we are told, they are too 
trivial for the majesty of history. The majesty of history seems to resemble 
the majesty of the poor king of Spain, who died a martyr to ceremony, because 
the proper dignitaries were not at hand to render him assistance. 

That history would be more amusing if this etiquette were relaxed, will, 
we suppose, be acknowledged. But would it be less dignified, or less useful? 
What do we mean when we say that one past event is important, and another 
insignificant ? No past event has any intrinsic importance. The knowledge 
of it is valuable only as it leads us to form just calculations with respect to 
the future. A history which does not serve this purpose, though it may be 
filled with battles, treaties and commotions, is as uselsss as the series of turn- 
pike-tickets collected by Sir Mathew Mite. 

A history in which every particular incident may be true, may on the 
whole be false. The circumstances which have most influence on the happi- 
ness of mankind, the changes of manners and morals, the transition of com- 
munities from poverty to wealth, from knowledge to ignorance, from ferocity 
to humanity — these are, for the most part, noiseless revolutions. Their prog- 
ress is rarely indicated by what historians are pleased to call important events. 
They are not achieved by armies, or enacted by senates. They are sanctioned 
by no treaties, and recorded in no archives. They are carried on in every 
school, in ever)' church, behind ten thousand counters, at ten thousand fire- 



AN ESSAY BY LORD MACAULAY. 19 

sides. The upper current of society presents no certain criterion by which we 
can judge of the direction in which the under current flows. We read of 
defeats and victories. But we know that nations may be miserable amid 
victories, and prosperous amid defeats. We read of the fall of wise min- 
isters, and of the rise of profligate favorites. But we must remember how- 
small a proportion the good or evil effected by a single statesman can bear to 
the good or evil of a great social system. 

In the works of such writers as these, England, at the close of the Seven 
Years' War, is in the highest state of prosperity. At the close of the Ameri- 
can war she is in a miserable and degraded condition ; as if the people were 
not, on the whole, as rich, as well governed, and as well educated at the latter 
period as at the former. We have read books called Histories of England, 
under the reign of George the Second, in which the rise of Methodism is not 
even mentioned. A hundred years hence this breed of authors will, we hope, 
be extinct. 

The effect of historical reading is analogous, in many respects, to that 
produced by foreign travel. The student, like the tourist, is transported into 
a new state of society. He sees new fashions, he hears new modes of expres- 
sion. His mind is enlarged by contemplating- the wide diversities of laws, of 
morals, and of manners. But men may travel far, and return with minds as 
contracted as if they had never stirred from their own market-town. In the 
same manner, men may know the dates of many battles, and the genealogies 
of many royal houses, and yet be no wiser. Most people look at past times 
as princes look at foreign countries. More than one illustrious stranger has 
landed on our island amid the shouts of a mob, has dined with the king, 
has hunted with the master of the stag-hounds, has seen the guards reviewed, 
and a knight of the garter installed ; has cantered along Regent street ; has 
visited St. Paul's, and noted down its dimensions, and has then departed, 
thinking that he has seen England. He has, in fact, seen a few public build- 
ings, public men, and public ceremonies. But of the vast and complex sys- 
tem of society, of the fine shades of national character, of the practical opera- 
tion of government and laws, he knows nothing. He who would understand 
these things rightly must not confine his observations to palaces and solemn 
days. He must see ordinary men as they appear in their ordinary business 
and in their ordinary pleasures. He must mingle in the crowds of the 
exchange and the coffee-house. He must obtain admittance to the convivial 
table and the domestic hearth. 

The perfect historian is he in whose work the character and spirit of an 
age is exhibited in miniature. He relates no fact, he attributes no expression 
to his characters, which is not authenticated by sufficient testimony. But by 
judicious selection, rejection, and arrangement he gives to truth those attrac- 
tions which have been usurped by fiction. In his narrative, a due subordina- 
tion is observed ; some transactions are prominent, others retire. 

If a man, such as we are supposing, should write the history of England, 
he would assuredly not omit the battles, the sieges, the negotiations, the sedi- 



20 HISTORY: AN ESSAY BY LORD MACAULAY. 

tions, the ministerial changes. But with these he would intersperse the details 
which are the charm of historical romances. At Lincoln Cathedral there is a 
beautiful painted window, which was made by an apprentice out of the pieces 
of glass which had been rejected by his master. It is so far superior to every 
other in the church that, according to the tradition, the vanquished artist 
killed himself from mortification. Sir Walter Scott, in the same manner, has 
used those fragments of truth which historians have scornfully thrown behind 
them, in a manner which may well excite their envy. 

The early part of our imaginary history would be rich with coloring from 
romance, ballad, and chronicle. We should find ourselves in the company of 
knights such as those of Froissart, and of pilgrims such as those who rode with 
Chaucer from the Tabard. Society would be shown from the highest to the 
lowest — from the royal cloth of state to the den of the outlaw; from the throne 
of the legate to the chimney-corner where the begging friar regaled himself. 
We should see Elizabeth in all her weakness, and in all her strength, surrounded 
by the handsome favorites whom she never trusted, and the wise old states- 
men whom she never dismissed, uniting in herself the most contradictory 
qualities of both her parents — the coquetry, the caprice, the petty malice of 
Anne — the haughty and resolute spirit of Henry. We should see those opin- 
ions and feelings which produced the great struggle against the house of Stuart 
slowly growing up in the bosom of private families, before they manifested 
themselves in parliamentary debates. Then would come the civil war. Those 
skirmishes on which Clarendon dwells so minutely would be told, as Thucyd- 
ides would have told them, with perspicuous conciseness. 

The instruction derived from history thus written would be of a vivid and 
practical character. It would be received by the imagination as well as by 
the reason. It would be not merely traced on the mind, but branded 
into it. Many truths, too, would be learned which can be learned in no other 
manner. As the history of States is generally written, the greatest and most 
momentous revolutions seem to come upon the-m like supernatural inflictions, 
without warning or cause. But the fact is that such revolutions are almost 
always the consequences of moral changes, which have gradually passed on 
the mass of the community, and which ordinarily proceed far before tht'r 
progress is indicated by any public measure. 

A historian such as we have been attempting to describe would indeed 
be an intellectual prodigy. In his mind, powers scarcely compatible with 
each other must be tempered into an exquisite harmony. We shall sooner 
see another Shakespeare or another Homer. The highest excellence to which 
any single faculty can be brought would be less surprising than such a happy 
and delicate combination of qualities. Yet the contemplation of imaginaiy 
models is not an unpleasant or useless employment of the mind. It cannot, 
indeed, produce perfection, but it produces improvement and nourishes that 
general and liberal fastidiousness which is not inconsistent with the strongest 
sensibility to merit, and which, while it exalts our conceptions of the art, does 
not render us unjust to the artist. 




-%! The 



Early Discoveries. 



INTRODUCTION. 




VERY person 
'A^ who has come 
,?)J^ to years of un- 

^ 1^ d e r s 1 
'^ should 




i-,i- «<^ hent points 
history of his 
native land; but 
the difficult} 
with most writ- 
ers of history is 
that they pre- 
sent it from a 
partial stand- 
point, biased by their politi- 
cal, religious, or professional 
training. 

We intend in the com- 
plete history which we here present, to give an impartial and unbiased record 
of the great events that have marked the progress of the " United States of 
America." We shall present the historical facts as they are thrown upon 
the moving canvas, and let them speak for themselves, as regards the motives 
of the great actors in them. 

While we have our own personal opinions in regard to public na- 
tional policy, we do not claim to be the interpreter of others, nor would 
we obtrude our well defined views upon any one who may honestly 
differ from them. This History of the United States is sent out to 
the reading people of America u-->ii the- hone of interestin/x them in 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



study which ought to engage the attention of every person who enjoys the 
protection, peace and personal rights offered in America to all classes alike. 

In the presentation of more recent history, culminating in the civil war 
and the reorganization of the States, we have studiously avoided the use of 
any epithet, or the attributing of any improper motives to any party. " Let 
the dead (past) bury its dead," and surround them with tributes of personal 
respect and honor if you will. The heroic bravery, the intense love of 
country, and the brilliant achievements were not all on one side or the other. 
They were noble foemen in battle, and attested their rights to be called 
" good men and true," on a hundred battlefields. The bloody strife is over, 
and they are fellow countrj'men all. The issues of the conflict are happily 
closed, and a bright and successful future awaits a united land. At best our 
circle of vision, even from the highest standpoint, is verj' limited, and we 
must ask the kindly charity of all who find, or think they find, 'the least 
indication of partizan spirit in the record of the wonderful history we have 
opened for them. 

Twenty years have elapsed since the country was in the midst of the 
fearful struggle, and the blood of this generation then heated from the fervor 
of youth has had ample time to cool. The judgment has been ripened, and 
we can dispassionately look back upon the stirring events of these years, and 
calmly judge of the questions which then excited us by the slightest mention. 
Then let the calm judgment of mature years be the arbiter, and leave the 
generations to come to pass the final verdict. We have done our best to give 
a fair and "IMPARTIAL HISTORY" from the data which have come to 
us. The error, if there be an error, is in the understanding, and not in the 
intention. READ AND JUDGE. 




Washington's Headquarters on the Hudson. 



I. 









THE AGE OF BISGOyEEY Al SETTLEINT. 

iHi^HERE are many indications that the ancients may have 

?r^' known something- of the existence of a Western World, 

ill 

but tliis is not altogether certain. The visit of the early 

^ Norsemen, who made a voyage of discovery in the 

eleventh century, had left no permanent trace behind, 

and it was not till after the discovery of the wonderful 

properties of the magnetic needle that the spirit of 

adventure and enterprise led the navigators of Europe to 

venture out on the great ocean, and attempt to cross its wide 

expanse. 

W^e will take our readers back to the time when the whole 

of America was a trackless wilderness, inhabited by the wild 

beasts, and no less- wild Indians, who roamed unrestrained 

, r-. ;3^ through its grand old forests and over its wide extended 




^i^ 



tlvX 



The same noble rivers and broad inland seas ; the same 
""^ wide e.xtent of prairie and lofty mountains were here then 

as now, with water-power capable of carrying all the machinery of 
the world ; there was the same wide extent of sea coast ; with its grand 
bays and harbors which can float all the navies of earth ; but for 
fifteen hundred years after the birth of Christ it had remained an 
unknown world. It was not till the hardy Genoan navigator in his 
Spanish ships dared to trust the mariner's compass, and turn his eyes toward 
the West, that the belief in a new continent took possession of man, and 
urged them to make voyages of discovery. Then a remarkable interest 
sprang up in every land distant and unexplored. The minds of men were 
shaking off the dullness of centuries, and the " fullness of time " had come. 
Science and intelligence were more widespread and men more eager to know 
something about the world in which they lived, and to learn of the unknown 
races beyond the narrow limits of Europe and the shores of the Mediterra- 
nean. The navigators of Genoa and Venice were becoming bolder and more 
skillful, and pushed their investigations further from land, and southward 
down the coast, of Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope. They had 
penetrated to the Indies. Portugal and Spain were washed by the waves of a 
sea which seemed boundless, and the new impulse of discovery came to them. 
Just then the courts of Lisbon and Madrid were crowded with adventurers 
who had made some great discoveries, or were seeking the aid of the 
sovereigns to enable them to make voyages. 

Among them there was one man who had for eighteen years been 
traveling from one king to another in Europe, to induce some one to fit out 
ships in which he might cross the Atlantic to find a new world. For he had 
argued if the world was round, as the learned men had proved, then then- 



24 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

must be land on the other side of the globe, " to balance " the continent of 
Europe, Asia and Africa. This man had passed through sorrow and hardship 
in early life, and had become gray at thirty. But he was tall and stately, of 
grave and gentle manners, and courteous bearing, though he had a saddened 
look. When he spoke of his discoveries, his eye kindled, and he seemed to 
be moved by an incontrollable passion of adventure. He regarded himself as 
the chosen instrument of Heaven to open the way across the pathless sea to 
an unknown world. Such was the man who had for years been telling his 
plans to the incredulous monarchs. of Europe, only to be repeatedly 
disappointed in getting the aid he sought. In him the instir.ct of discovery 
rose to the height of a noble inspiration which no discouragement could 
dampen. This man was Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America. 



THE STORY OF COLUMBUS. 

S^'^^^HRISTOPHER COLUMBUS was a native of the city 
of Genoa, Italy. He was born of humble parentage, 
about the year 1436, and in early life was a swineherd. 
A high spirit and restless religious zeal led him to devote 
his time to the study of Geometry, Astronomy, Geog- 
raphy and Navigation, together with the Latin language, 
for a time in the University of Padua. He had been to 
sea for a while after he was fourteen. He became convinced that 
"[5^ there was land to the west, and thought that by sailing in that direc- 
(^ lion he could reach the coast of Asia. He applied to the Senate 
of his native city for 
ships and men, but they 
denied him. Then he 
went to Portugal, where 
he had married a lady 
of Lisbon, whose father 
had been a famous nav- 
The charts and maps 
which he found here still further 
inflamed his mind with the desire ^^ 
of discovery. Disappointed by •%-^*^S^««*^ 
the Court of Lisbon, he applied 

to Ferdinand of Spain, in 1484, „:<^^^^ .^^ -* 

but that cautious monarch listen- ,™,_, 

ed to him and referred his theory ' -^^^^^isSmMl Ifs*? / 
to the wise men of the Universi- 
ty of Salamanca. Some of these 
very learned men came to the 
conclusion that if there was land 




irator. 




149=] THE AGE OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 2? 

on the other side of the world the people who li\'ed there must walk with 
their feet pointing upward and their heads downward, and as this would 
be a disagreeable land to explore they dismissed the subject. But Columbus 
was not yet past all hope, for he obtained an audience with Queen Isabella, 
who ruled jointly with her husband. He won her by his candor and enthu- 
siasm to favor his cause. It is said that she was willing to part witli some 
of her Court jewels to raise money to equip the ships which Columbus 
needed. 

Columbus was indebted to two women for the success of his plans. To 
his wife, who fostered and shared his inspiration, and to Isabella, the Spanish 
Queen, who furnished him with means to carry out his plans. 

On the third day of August, 1492, Columbus set sail from Palos in Spain 
to cross an unknown sea. His crew was made up of unwilling sailors who 
were compelled to embark with him by command of the king. It was Friday, 
and their vessels were turned towards a trackless waste of waters in whose 
mysterious distance the sun seemed to set every night. There were three 
vessels ; the best of which was only a small craft with a single deck. 

No sane man would dare now to venture a hundred miles from land in 
such a vessel, while the other two were open, save at the stem and stern, 
where there were cabins for the crew and officers. On Sunday, September 
9th, the adventurer, with his poorly equipped and ill-manned vessels, passed 
out of sight of the farthest limit to which any other navigator had before 
come, and still he sailed to the west. But after awhile the sailors were 
awe-stricken to see that the needle of the compass did not point exactly to 
the nortli, and they were going farther and farther from land. 

They were in the latitude of the trade winds which blew from the south- 
east, and week after week went by and still no signs of land. A reward \s-as 
promised to him who should first see land. On the evening of September 
25th, Martin Alonzo Pinzon thought he saw land in the distance, but in the 
morning it proved to be only a cloud. For two weeks longer they sailed on 
their course while Columbus had all that he could do to prevent an open 
mutiny. He promised them if they did not see land in three days, he would 
turn about and sail back to Spain. At last there came signs that they were 
nearing the shore, and Columbus cried, " We shall see land in the morning." 
The vesper hymn to the Virgin was sung, and the leader remained on the 
lookout of the Pinta all night peering out into the darkness. At midnight he 
saw a light which moved in the distance, and when the morning came, behold 
they were near the beautiful wooded shores upon which the foot of the wliite 
man had never trod. Birds of wonderful plumage hovered over them and 
the air was fragrant with the odors that blew off the land. The delighted 
crew clustered around their commander and knelt to ask his forgiveness. 
Then they set off in their boats for the shore ! Columbus first stepped on 
the beach and unfurled the banner of Spain, claiming the country in the 
name of Ferdinand and Isabella. The crew knelt on the strand to kiss the 
earth, and wept, and sang their hymns of praise. 



26 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1496 



This triumph was the long wished-for reaHzation of the discoverer's 
visions and dreams for many years, but he did not yet realize the extent of 
his wonderful achievement. He died thinking that he had only found a 
shorter route to India, and never knew that he had opened the way to a 
mighty continent. 

The revelation which Columbus had given the inhabitants of the Old 
World that there were lands to the west where dwelt human beings unlike 
any that they had ever seen, aroused the eager desire for greater discoveries. 

They imagined that wealth could be had for the gathering. The rivers 
ran over golden sands. The meanest savage was decked in ornaments, and 
his house was hung with pearls, and somewhere, there was a fountain, if one 
could only find it, whose waters would bestow eternal youth on him wl:o 
bathed therein. All these and other fancies of the brain were circulated, and 
these romances were greedily received by the people who were anxious to 
leave the mean and commonplace surroundings of the Old World for the 
New. 

The men who had been trained to fighting, now thought that they could 
wrest untold wealth from the simple and harmless natives of the West. 
France and England were anxious to secure what Spain had gained by the 
great discovery of the Genoan. Even the honor of naming the New W^orld 
vras taken from Columbus and given to another. Amerigo Vespucci, a 
Florentine navigator, claimed to have discovered the continent, and his name, 
America, was given to the Western World. 



THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH DISCOVERERS. 

MERCHANT in the city of Bristol, England, by the 

name of John Cabot received authority from his king to 

make discoveries in the northern part of the American 

Continent. The king made a sharp bargain with the 

subject. Cabot was to bear all the expense, and the 

monarch was to receive one-fifth of the profits of the 

expedition. John Cabot, taking with him his son, 

s'i?^ Sebastian, sailed directly westward from England, 

supposing that he would find the same climate as in his 

English home. He reached the coast of Labrador in 1497, and 

was without doubt the first discoverer of the continent ; but to his 

great astonishment, he found himself in a region of snow and 

ice. 

He was ignorant of the existence of the Gulf Stream and its 
wonderful effect on the climate of Europe. This stream of warm 
water flowing from the Giilf of Mexico across the ocean renders 
the climate of those nations which lie on the western shores of the 
Old World warmer than the land in the same latitude in America. The 




1733] THE AGE OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 27 

Cabots, father and son, made many other voyages, and explored the whole 
coast from Labrador to Florida. 

The French turned their thoughts to the West, and sent adventurers to 
the St. Lawrence, who sailed up the river, and, after many attempts, 
established settlements in Canada which they held for a hundred and fifty 
years. 

An aged warrior. Ponce de Leon, started out upon an expedition at his 
own expense, to find the fountain of perpetual youth in the New World, but 
he searched in vain. He entered the St. John's river in Florida and found 
a land clothed in grand old forests and perpetual flowers, and gave it the 
name it now bears. He attempted to found a colony in the paradise which 
he had found, but his men were set upon by the savages, who slew many of 
them, and wounded him with a poisoned arrow, and drove the rest to their 
ships carrying their wounded commander. 

Ferdinand de Soto, another Spaniard, with si.x hundred young men who 
were eager for e.xploits, came to the coast of Florida, and set out for a 
journey through the wilderness, allured by the hope of finding wealth. The 
Lidians soon learned that they were expected to tell the strangers where they 
could find gold, and it was very unpleasant for them not to be able to point 
the way. De Soto had burned three of the savages who would not tell him, 
so the poor Indian found that it was for his advantage to send the Spaniard 
on his journey in search of the Eldorado, where gold could be found. The 
poor savage drew on his imagination to save his life. The Spanish 
commander went on and came to the great river a mile in width. Still not to 
be baffled, he built boats and ferried across to resume his weary march. At 
last he was obliged to confess the failure of his undertaking ; and, broken in 
spirit, he took the fever and died. His body was buried in the Mississippi, 
the great river he had discovered. Then the remainder of the band built 
ships to float them down the river and reach Cuba. The vessels used by the 
European voyagers were small, but few of them a hundred tons burden. The 
merchant ships of that time were small, although the ships of war were quite 
large. 

The commerce of Europe was too poor to employ any but the smallest 
ships. But the hardy adventurers who came to America were brave, 
energetic, and daring. They opened up to the over-crowded countries of 
Europe an asylum in the wilderness, and made it possible for a mighty nation 
to grow untrammeled by narrow boundaries, and unterrified by surrounding 
nationalities. 



28 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1620 




THE EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

'HE earliest settlement that remained permanent in the 
United States was at Jamestown, Virginia. Sir Walter 
Raleigh, who was at one time a great favorite of 
Elizabeth, the Queen of England, was very much 
interested in making a settlement in America, and 
expended a- vast amount of money to forward his plans. 
But his colonies always failed for some cause or another. 
Sometimes the colonists would return in disgust at the 
hardships which they had to endure. One colony was 
murdered by the Indians, and when help came nothing but 
ruins could be found, and one colony was lost, and its fate is 
unknown to this day. At last, in 1 606, a grant was given by 
the king to a company who could colonize any part of 
America claimed by the English and trade with the natives. 
Under this grant, a company of one hundred and five men set 
out for Virginia in three vessels. One-half of this number 
were gentlemen of broken fortunes, some were trades-people, 
and some were footmen. There was not a farmer or mechanic among them. 
There was one man in this band who was a born hero and leader, — John 
Smith. They came to the James river and laid the foundation of a set- 
tlement, which they named Jamestown, in honor of the king. Here were 
planted the seeds of the first settlement that took root and flourished. 
The colonists, unaccustomed to toil, worked manfully and erected their 
homes in the wilderness, and planted their wheat. When the summer 
came, the supply of food was low, and many of the settlers died from 
the heat and hardships ; but winter brought them better climate and 
abundant supplies of game and fish, with a good harvest of wheat. Smith 
set out to explore the country, was captured by the Indians ; and after 
puzzling them for a time with the mysteries of the pocket compass and the 
art of writing, was rescued from death by Pocahontas, the young daughter of 
the Indian chief, Powhatan, who had decided to kill him. When Smith 
returned from his captivity with the savages, he found his colony on the very 
point of breaking up. Only thirty-eight were living, and these were making 
preparations to leave. But the return of their leader inspired them with new 
nope, and they resumed their work. New colonists joined them from 
England, but they were of a class known as " vagabond gentlemen, who had 
packed off to escape worse destinies at home." The reputation of the colony 
was so bad, that we are told that some, rather than come to Virginia, 
" chose to be hung, and zverc." These were the undesirable subjects whom 
Smith was obliged to rule with an authority that none dared to question. 
But unfortunately for the colony, Smith was obliged to return to England to 
procure surgical treatment for an injury caused by an accidental discharge of 
gunpowder. In six months the colony was again reduced to sixty men, and 



1733] THE AGE OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 29 

were making ready to depart, when Lord Baltimore, their new governor, 
came and prevented them. Once more the settlement was saved on the very 
verge of dissolution. 

Years of quiet growth followed, and a better class of emigrants came. 
There was a great demand for tobacco, — a new plant unknown to Europe 
until Sir Walter Raleigh introduced it into England ; — and the colonists 
found it growing in Virginia, and learned its cultivation from the natives. It 
was in extensive use among the Indians, and regarded as a medicine. The 
use of this plant spread in England very rapidly, and created a demand for 
its supply, and the Virginians found it a most profitable crop to cultivate. 

In the absence of money, tobacco became a medium of exchange among 
the colonists. Salaries of officers and ministers, fines in churches and State 
were paid with it. In a few years after the first settlement there was a 
written Constitution. They had a House of Parliament chosen by the people, 
and a governor sent out from England. The Episcopal church was 
recognized as the State church, and the colony was divided into parishes. A 
college was founded, and the Indians were friendly. The first white child 
born in America was here baptized by the name of Virginia Dare. 
Pocahontas went to England with her husband, a young colonist by the name 
of John Rolfe, where she was kindly received by the queen, and made the 
recipient of many favors; but she died at Gravesend, March, 1617, just as she 
was about to return to America with her husband. She left an infant son, 
from whom some of the noblest families of Virginia descended. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 



^^^W^\ LITTLE more than two centuries ago, the part of the 

IfSill^ United States we call New England, was one vast forest, 

■.^l^^^'ls :*.'■ with here and there a little clearing where a few Indian 

Sfr^i I ?;" ■' ■■■» ° 

■.«>I>1'' '■»" families made their temporary home, and raised their 

^'-:j|\~ scanty supply of corn. But it was destined to become 

l^^h^ '^£j the abode of hardy and devout people, who by their 

.f -^ i^'iC^industiy and frugality were to lay the basis of a mighty 

": nation upon the broad foundation-stones of civil and 

, religious liberty. 

% A noble band of men who were denied the liberty o-f worship 

[ which they desired in their own land, resolved to escape from 

? England to Holland to find the freedom denied by their own 

' countrymen. Mr. Robinson, a wise and good man, had been their 

minister, and after straggling bands of Pilgrims, as they were 

called, reached Holland, their pastor joined them. They remained 

here eleven years receiving additions, from time to time, from those who were 

anxious to be free from religious oppression. Then it was decided to establish 



30 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1620 

a new State in America where they could be free to worship God, and not fear 
any aUiances with the nations around them. 

Enough money was raised among them to equip and send one hundred 
of their number to the new world. A ship called the Mayflower was chartered 
to take them across the stormy Atlantic. On a morning in July this vanguard 
of freedom knelt on the sea-shore at Delftshaven to listen to the prayers of 
their pastor, and receive his parting blessing. The vessel was of one hundred 
and sixty tons burden, an old hulk which would not now be considered safe 
for a coast-wise trip in fair weather. 

After repeated delays, the expedition set sail in the early part of Sep- 
tember, 1620, and after a long and stormy voyage, dropped her anchor in the 
waters of Cape Cod Bay on the nth of November of the same year. It was 
a cold and barren coast which met their view, with low sand hills devoid of 
any vegetation except long grass and low dwarf trees. 

The Pilgrims hesitated so long about the place to begin a settlement, that 
the captain threatened to put them all on shore and leave them. They went 
out to explore, and finally chose a spot where they decided to found their 
colony. They landed on the 22nd of December upon Plymouth rock, and 
began the Colony which they called by the name of the city in England 
which they had left. Here they were in an unknown wilderness, the winter 
upon them with scant supplies and no shelter. But they worked manfully to 
build their little town, sadly hindered by the severe cold and the death of 
their comrades, who fell around them. They erected nineteen houses, sur- 
rounded them with a palisade, and then on the hill they erected a building 
which served the double purpose of a fort and a church. The severe winter 
passed, and when the spring came their numbers had been sadly reduced by 
death : but now the health and spirits of the survivors began to improve. 

The little band had signed a civil compact in the cabin of the Mayflower 
before they landed, in which they formed themselves into a government, and 
chose John Carver as their governor. They acknowledged King James as 
their sovereign, but were emphatically a self governing commonwealth. 

They had known enough of the despotism of Kings, and were quite sure 
that democracy could not be any worse, and they had faith to try tlie 
experiment. 

From this small beginning came the establishment of self-government 
over all the country. 

For some years, the difificulties which beset the infant colonists were well 
nigh insurmountable, but their faith failed not, and after a tim.e prosperity 
came to them. 

Each summer new additions were made to their number, of men and 
women who had caught the spirit of religious freedom, and sought to find 
here an as\'lum from the tyrannies to which they were subject in their old 
homes. Thus New England became the place of refuge to many of the 
wearied victims of persecution, and seemed a paradise to those who were 



i;:,;] THE AGE OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEME:;T. 31 

denied the right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience. 
Whole congregations with their pastors came to swell the number. 

The men were stout of heart and patient in toil, and their industiy and 
labor brought them comfort. They were simple in manners and plain in 
dress ; their wants were few and these were supplied by the harvests of the 
autumn, by their success in hunting and fishing and by the flocks they raised. 
The women carded, spun and wove the wool. The men felled the forests and 
built houses and vessels, erected cities and formed new towns in the woods. 
The ships they built crossed the ocean and carried their freights of timber, 
fish and furs. Commerce sprung up and prosperity smiled upon the settlers. 
They early made friends with the Indians, and one of the most pleasant 
episodes in the early days of the Colony was the visit and friendly aid of 
Massasoit, a chief who lived at Sowansee, now Warren, Rhode Island. 

He came with his brother and si.xty warriors to the little settlement in 
March, 1621, the spring which followed the first severe winter in the new 
world. He made a league of friendship with the English, and for forty years 
was their staunch friend and protector, never failing them in ail their dangers 
and hardships. His influence saved the little band from destruction by the 
Narragansets. Two years after his visit the old chief was taken very sick, 
and would have died if the governor had not sent him Mr. Winslow who used 
simple remedies which effected a cure ; and in his great joy and gratitude he 
said, " Now I see that the English are my friends and love me, and while I 
live I will never forget the kindness they have shown me." 

The kindness of this Indian was of great value to the Colony as long' as 
he lived, and he was highly respected by them. 

The Colonists of New England paid great attention to the subject of 
education, believing that it was of vital importance to the preservation of the 
State and Church. In a few years schools began to appear, and a law was 
passed that every town of fifty freeholders should maintain a common school, 
and every town of one hundred, must sustain a grammar school. Some 
tolerably qualified brother was chosen and " entreated to become school- 
master. " Harvard College was established within fifteen years after the 
Pilgrim fathers landed at Plymouth. 

Twenty-three years after the landing, there were twenty-four thousand 
white people in New England. Forty-nine wooden towns, and four Colonies 
namely, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Haven. There 
seemed at first a desire to scatter widely, push out into the wilderness, form 
new settlements and set up self-government, each for itself. But this 
separation could not long exist for there were other human beings in the 
wilderness beside the white settlers, and these had a prior claim there. 
Within calling distance there were Indians enough when aroused and com- 
bined to drive out all the colonists. And be\-ond the frontiers were French 
and Dutch settlements. So it came to pass that the four Colonies were forced 
to form themselves for mutual protection and encouragement, into a band 
called "The United Colonies of New England." This was the first confed- 



32 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1620 



eration in a land which was destined afterwards to estabhsh this form of 
government on a scale the world had never seen before. Nor was this done 
any too soon, for there were troublous times to come, and these earnest God- 
fearing men found that they would need all the strength which a united 
assistance and a common bond would bring. 

Massasoit was dead, and all the efforts of the English to Christianize and 
civilize the natives had produced but little effect. 



THE INDIAN WAR. 




'HE great Indian Apostle, Rev. John Eliot, was the 
pastor of the church at Roxbury. He was moved by 
pity to carry the Gospel to the tribes around him. and 
for this purpose learned their language, and translated 
the Bible by means of an alphabet of his own. 

He preached to them in their own tongue, and 
many became converts. He even attempted to 
establish a college for the Indian youth, but was obliged to 
abandon this undertaking on account of their natur:d love of 
idleness and strong drink. They would not work. Tliey could 
indeed be taught to rest on the Sabbath, but the}^ would not 
labor on the other six days. This was a great cause of 
f?0 hindrance, but in spite of the general discouragement, there 
y^Sf were many noble exceptions, and the hold which Christianity 
took upon those who accepted it was never wholly lost. In 
the Indian wars which arose, the converts were never found 
fighting against the English, but usually united in aiding them. 
At length came the short but bitter war with King Philip, the younger son of 
the old chief, Massasoit, the friend of the colonies. Even his enemies will 
acknowledge that this savage chief was a hero. The noble old chief who had 
been faithful to his early friendship with the English, had two sons, whom 
governor Winslow had named Alexander and Philip. Alexander had 
succeeded his father, but had died, and Philip had become chief. He was 
noble-hearted', patriotic, and filled with good sense. He was a statesman as 
well as a warrior, and at first was friendly to the settlers. But he saw that the 
whites were crowding year by year upon his domain ; still he kept the treaties 
which his father had made, and even submitted to grave insults from the 
white men. There came a time when he could endure this no longer, 
and he arose in war against them. The war spread throughout New 
England, and the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts united to meet 
them. In a week the Indian chief was driven out of his beautiful 
home on Mount Hope, Rhode Island, and went a fugitive to other 
tribes, arousing them to vengeance. The whites thought the ^\■ar was 
over, but it had just begun. The powerful tribes of the Narragansets 
joined in the war. The Indians avoided the white troops, and carried on the 



1/33] THE AGE OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 33 

warfare, after their savage fashion, by plundering towns and villages, and 
killing defenceless women and children. Whole villages were wiped out, and 
no one could feel safe. The fields, the homes, the churches, the very beds of 
the poor colonists were liable to be attacked without warning, and a general 
massacre of all would follow. Out of one hundred towns twehe were entirely 
destroyed, and more than forty others were more or less plundered. Josiah 
Winslow, with a brave band of settlers, captured the principal fort of the 
Narragansets, which stood where South Kingston, Rhode Island, now is, and 
destroyed it. Their chief, Canonchet, was soon afterwards taken, and offered 
his life if he would submit ; but he proudly refused. When he was 
condemned to death, he said, " I like it well ; I shall die before I speak 
anj-thing unworthy of myself." 

The close of 1675 brought an end to the war, King Philip saw that he 
could not prevent the other tribes from making peace, and the most of his 
own warriors had fallen. When he heard that his wife and child had been 
taken by the English, he exclaimed in his anguish, " My heart breaks; now I 
am ready to die." 

He was shot in the swamp by a traitor Indian, and his body given to 
Church, the captain of a party who were pursuing them. According to 
custom, the head of Philip was severed from his body, and carried on a pole 
to Plymouth, where it was set up in sight of the people for a number of days. 
The body was quartered and hung on trees. In this way did our enlightened 
ancestors retaliate upon the Indian warrior and statesman, who labored and 
fought for the rights of his tribe. There were now scarcely one hundred of 
the Narragansets left, and their last Sachem, the sole survivor of the 
family of Massasoit, was carried to Bermuda and sold into slavery. 

Annawon was the next in command over the Indian forces after the 
escape of Philip, and the same captain, Benjamin Church, who had taken the 
head of the king to Plymouth, was sent to capture him. Church became 
separated from his company, and had only one white man and five friendly 
Indians when he heard where Annawon and his band of fifty warriors were 
encamped. These men succeeded in surprising the chief, and taking him a 
captive to Boston, where he was put to death by the English, after he had 
surrendered all the royal emblems of Philip. The whites had no excuse for 
this act of wanton cruelty. 




't^^W ""^'^ 



34 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1609 




SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA. 



^ ENDRICK HUDSON, an explorer in the employ of 
the Dutch, had discovered and sailed up the river which 
bears his name, in the year 1609. Three or four 
years after the Pilgrims had landed at Plymouth, the 
Dutch West India Company resolved to establish a 
f^0^^^^^^^^^ trading post with the Indians. They sent out a 
^1^^'^^''^^ settlement in 1623, which located on Manhattan island 
0,0^0"'" at the north of the Hudson, and built a town which they 
called New Amsterdam. They grew rich and numerous, until 
a war broke out with the Indians, who drove the settlers to the 
southern extremity of the island, and they built a wall across 
the island where Wall Street is now situated. The war came 
to an end, and for twenty years after there was a time of peace 
and prosperity under the government of a wise and sagacious 
man, Peter Stuyvesant. While his government was not 
faultless, the city flourished under it, and a continued flow of 
emigration came in from Europe. In the year 1664, when Peter was away 
from home, an English fleet appeared in the harbor to demand the territorj.' 
in the name of their sovereign. Charles II. had given his brother James of 
York, a large tract of country, embracing the land on which the Dutch city 
stood. 

Peter at first was willing to fight them single-handed ; but the English 
settlers would not fight against their king, and the Dutch, ^■^■ho remembered 
some of the petty tyrannies of Peter would not join him. At length he yielded 
to the entreaties of two ministers and many of the people, and the city of 
fifteen hundred inhabitants quietly passed into the hands of the English, 
and its name was changed to New York. With this city the Dutch also 
gave up their settlements in New Jersey, which they had taken from the 
Swedes, and so the English had the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts Bay 
to Georgia. 





1733] THE AGE OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 




iwr% 



THE LAND OF PENN. 



ILLIAM PENN, the son of an English admiral, who 
had won many noted victories for the Crown, became 
a Quaker, to the dismay of his friends, just at the time 
^ a briUiant future spread out before him. At first the 
father was furious and turned his son out of doors, 
hoping that hunger would soon cause him to recant : 
but the admiral relented and restored him to favor. 






c?^ 



^'^t/^ When his father died, soon after the reconciliation, young Penn 
- ;^^t, inherited his possessions, and among the rest a claim for $8o,000 
Mm^ due the admiral from the king. Penn, who had formed in his mind a 
design to establish a settlement in America for the persecuted 
members of his own sect, offered to take payment of the king in 
land ; and Charles was ready enough to bestow upon his subject a 
vast region stretching westward from the Delaware River. Penn 
then came to America with the noble purpose of founding a 
free and self governing State, where, as he said, he could show men 
as free and " as happy as they can be." He proclaimed to the men who were 
already settled within his territory, " Whatever sober and free men can 
reasonably desire, I will comply with." He was true to his word ; and when 
they sent representatives his people met them and a Constitution was framed. 
Penn confirmed this arrangement. He also dealt honorably and kindly with 
the Indians, and bought their lands of them, and in return they respected and 
loved him. The conference with the natives was held under a large elm 
which stood in the forest where Philadelphia now is, and a monument marks 
the spot. All was to be " openness and love," and " no advantage was to be 
taken on either side." For long years the Indians recounted the words of 
Penn, and the blood of a Quaker was never shed by an Indian on the soil cf 
Pennsylvania. 

The fame of Penn's new State went abroad to all lands, and it grew verj- 
rapidly with grave and God-fearing men, w^ho came from all parts of Europe. 
During the first year, two thousand persons arrived, and Philadelphia became 
a town of six hundred houses. A few years later Penn returned to England, 
and reported that " things went on sweetly with the Friends in Pennsylvania : 
that they increased finely, in outward things and in wisdom." 
The settlement of Pennsylvania was founded in 1682, 



36 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1620 




at 



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SETTLEMENTS IN THE OTHER COLONIES. 

HE thirteen original States were Virginia, Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, 
Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

Connecticut was settled by men and women from 
Massachusetts, in two colonies. One came through the 
wilderness and settled in Windsor above Hartford ; the 
other came by water and settled in New Haven. 

Rhode Island was settled by Roger Williams, a minister 
of Salem, who declared that the State had to do with the 
" bodies and goods and outward estates " of men. In the 
domain of conscience God alone was the ruler. He was 
~^„, , , r^ banished and went to Rhode Island, where he obtained a grant 
^tM ] iJ^i'^f land from the Indians and laid the foundation of a new 
'" ~ ' ^'^ State. He founded the city of Providence and proclaimed 
that his settlement was to become a " shelter for persons 
distressed for conscience sake." And so has it ever been. 
New Hampshire was settled by colonists from Massachusetts, of which it 
was a part from 1641 to 1C79. 

Delaware was named in honor of Lord Delaware, who came to Virginia 
to aid the colony at Jamestown, in 161 1. It was first settled by the Swedes, 
in the year 1627, and passed, as we have seen, into the hands of the Dutch 
and then to the English. Penn annexed it to his new State. In the year 
1703, it was returned to its former condition as a separate colony. 

Maryland was first settled in 1631, by a band of adventurers from 
Virginia, under one Captain Clayborne, and received a charter from the king 
making it a distinct province, named after the queen, his wife. 

New Jersey was first settled by the Dutch in 1612, and then by the 
Swedes and Danes. It afterwards passed into the hands of the English when 
they took possession of New York in 1664. 

North Carolina was permanently settled under a grant from King Charles 
II., in 1663. John Locke, the celebrated Scotch metaphysician, wrote a 
code of laws which were in force in this colony for twenty-five years. 

South Carolina received its first well-defined settlement in 1663, under a 
charter from Charles II., when a number of English noblemen built a city at 
Port Royal, and established themselves in a government. The city of 
Charleston, named in honor of the king, was founded in 1680, and thereafter 
the growth of the colony was very rapid. 

Georgia was the latest of the colonies, and the farthest south of any of 
the English possessions in America during the time of colonial history. It 
was settled in 1733, when General Oglethorpe founded the city of Savannah. 
He obtained a charter from Charles II. of all the land between the Savannah 
River and the Altamaha, extending westward to the Pacific Ocean. It was 



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1733] 



THE AGE OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 



37 



■designed to be a refuge for the deserving poor and for Protestants suffering 
persecution. Parliament \oted $50,000 to aid in carrying forward this noble 
enterprise. One hundred and twenty persons came in the first expedition 
under the leadership of General Oglethorpe, and were kindly received by the 
Indians. The next year a hundred Germans came and were assigned a place, 
which they in gratitude named, Ebenezer. They were steady and industrious 
and eagerly applied themselves to the raising of silk and indigo. The fame 
of the colony spread through Europe and attracted large numbers. Thus 
■was planted on the eastern shore of the continent a chain of English colonies 
like a vanguard, which was in time to conquer the wilderness and fill the 
land with busy towns and thriving villages. The hum of machinery was to 
be heard along its water-courses. Its hills were to resound to the whistle of 
the shop and locomotive. The wharfs of its cities were to be crowded with 
•commerce from all parts of the world, and a stream of emigration was to pour 
in from all the crowded nations of the East, and an empire would be erected 
upon the foundation that these feeble colonies were laying. Each distinct, 
with no common bond but the slight allegiance to a distant sovereign, they 
were to become united in one mighty compact, and together give the world 
its highest example of a free government of the people and for the people. 
These earnest men builded better than they knew, and shaped the destinies 
*of the unborn millions who should come after them. 




BATTLE l\rONUMENT. BALTIMORE. 



n. 




'FTER the establishment of the colonies which stretched 
along the Atlantic coast from the Penobscot to the 
Altamaha, and owned allegiance to the English king, 
there came a period of formation and growth in which 
they developed their natural resources and established 
their commerce, built colleges and seminaries, and grew 
in all things which increased their prosperity and 
strength. The Indian tribes were subdued, the forests 
were cleared and cities and towns sprang up as if by magic. 
Manufactories were built and agriculture was flourishing. The 
colonies were left alone by the home government and allowed to 
direct their own affairs. In some cases a Governor was sent 
from England to rule the colony, but the laws were enacted by 
representatives chosen by the people. In others the people had 
the right to elect their own Governors. They regulated their 
own commerce and internal trade and directed their own 
taxation and system of religion and education. 

We will take a hasty glance at the condition of each colony during this 
period. 

In New England we will find some things that may surprise us. The 
early settlers had been a religious, sensible people, but when they left Europe 
there was a universal belief in witchcraft. King James had written a strange 
book on Demonology, in which he said that to forbear to put witches to 
death was an " odious treason against God," and the people were no wiser 
than their king. 

The superstition spread to America, or -was brought thither by the ship- 
•loads of emigrants who were flocking over the sea to find a home here. All 
at once it burst out like a fearful scourge in the little town of Salem, 
Massachusetts, now a fine city. 

There was here a minister by the name of Parris. The daughter and 
the niece of this clergyman fell ill of a strange nervous disorder. The doctors 
claimed that they were bewitched, and the minister set out at once to find 
out who were the offenders. Three old women were suspected, and taken 
into custody. From this the mania spread, and every one became alarmed 
and suspicious. No one was safe. Witches were supposed to ride in the air 
at nin-ht. Even the beasts were not safe, and once a dog was solemnly 
condemned to death for taking some part in a satanic festival. 

The prisons were filled with the accused, and many were put to death. 
The town of Falmouth hanged its minister ; and the wise and intelligent 
were no more secure than the low and ignorant. The wild panic lasted for a 



1775] THE COLONIAL PERIOD. 39 

whole year. Those who confessed that they were wizards or witches were set 
free for the most part, while those who denied it were judged guilty and 
hanged. Many refused to buy their life by falsehood and miserably perished. 
The delusion spread wide like a forest fire, until the whole colony was filled 
with terror. But the reaction came as suddenly as the outbreak of the 
mania. The Governor put an end to all the persecution, stopped the 
prosecutions, dismissed all the suspected, and pardoned the condemned ; and 
the General Court proclaimed a fast. They entreated that God would 
pardon the errors of the people " in the late tragedy caused by Satan and his 
instruments." One of the judges with bowed head stood in his pew in a 
church in Boston while a paper was read asking the prayers of the 
congregation, that the innocent blood which he had shed in error might 
not be laid to him, or the country. The Salem jury asked forgiveness 
of God and of the community for what they had done under the power 
of a strong and general delusion. Reverend Mr. Parris was obliged to 
resign his church and leave the town a broken man. The error of New 
England had been great and lamentable, but her repentance was deep and 
sincere. Strange as was this wide-spread delusion, there is another chapter in 
colonial histoiy none the less strange. The very men who had come across 
the ocean to find religious liberty, in their turn became persecutors and 
bigots. They had discovered that the restraints laid upon them for 
conscience' sake were unjust and grievous, and while they claimed toleration 
for themselves they had not learned that others had as good a right to think 
for themselves. 

After a few years of cheerful religious liberty there began to arise strange 
doctrines which they thought it their duty to put down at all hazards. 
Roger Williams, a young clergyman — "godly and zealous" — landed in 
Boston in 163 1, with strange notions he had brought with him. He had been 
the friend of John Milton and taught him the Dutch language. Long and 
serious study had convinced him that in regard to creed and form of worship, 
man was alone responsible to his Creator, and no one is entitled to la}- 
compulsion upon another man in reference to his religious opinions. 

The colonists were not ready to receive these opinions although Williams 
was settled as a pastor over the church in Salem, where he was held in high 
esteem. But his bold preaching drew down upon him the wrath of the 
authorities, and deserted by his church and his own wife, he was banished to 
Rhode Island where he established a colony for perfect religious toleration, 
as we have before seen. 

Williams had a forgiving spirit and twice saved the Puritan colonies 
from their enemies. But they continued to whip the Baptists, and when the 
Quakers came to Boston the General Court proclaimed a fast, and cast them 
into prison. Their books were burned by the common hangman, and ship 
masters were forbidden to bring any Quakers into the colony. They were 
Dublicly whipped, had their tongues seared with a red-hot iron and were 
anished under penalty of death if they returned. Four persons suffcrcil 



40 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1773 

death ; others had their ears cut off. The Quakers had friends at home, and 
in 1661 a letter came in the king's name directing that the authorities in New 
England should forbear to proceed farther against the Quakers. The letter 
came by the hand of a Quaker ,who was under sentence of death if he 
returned. But they did not dare to do otherwise than respect it. With this 
closed the most shameful chapter in the history of New England. 

A writer on the history of these times offers the following excuse for the 
persecution of this peaceful sect : " But, in justice to New England, it must 
be told that the first generation of Quakers differed extremely from 
succeeding generations. They were a fanatical people, — extravagant, intem- 
perate in speech, rejectors of lawful authority. They believed themselves 
guided by an ' inner light,' which habitually placed them at variance with the 
laws and customs of the country in which they lived. George Fox declared 
that ' the Lord forbade him to put off his hat to any man.' His followers 
were provokingly aggressive. They invaded public worship. They openly 
expressed their contempt for the religion of their neighbors. They 
perpetually came with ' messages from the Lord,' which were not pleasant to 
listen to. They appeared in public places very imperfectly attired, thus 
symbolically to [express and to rebuke the spiritual nakedness of the time. 
The second generation of New England Quakers were people of beautiful 
lives, spiritual-minded, hospitable, and just. When their zeal allied itself 
with discretion, they became a most valuable element in American society. 
They have firmly resisted all social evils. But we can scarcely wonder that 
they created alarm at first. The men of New England took a very simple 
view of the subject. They had bought and paid for every acre of soil which 
they occupied. Their country was a homestead from which they might 
exclude whom they chose. They would not receive men whose object seemed 
to be to overthrow their customs, civil and religious. It was a mistake, 
but a most natural mistake. Long afterwards, when New England saw her 
error, she made what amends she could, by giving compensation to the 
representatives of those Quakers who had suffered in the evil times." 




1733] 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD. 



41 




THE GROWTH AND GOVERNMENT OF THE 

COLONIES. 



T the first there was some diversity in the form of 
government in the different colonies, but as time passed 
on this lessened, and one general type came to be 
5^ in force in them all. The governor was appointed by 
the king, and he had to depend upon the assembly of 
representatives chosen from the people, for the moneys 
i,, needed to carry on the Government and execute its laws. 
>.i^ So as the time of separation drew near the governors found 
their powers very much circumscribed by the heavy pressure which 
the Assembly brought to bear upon them. When the governor as 
the king's representative had a falling out with the popular will as 
expressed by the representatives of the Commonwealth they 
assumed the whole business of government. They were in fact, 
a self-governing people who held a pride in their connection with 
the mother country, but if their governors encroached too much 
upon their rights, they were ready to resist them to the utmost. 
Virginia had two councils at first, one appointed by the king, and the other 
elected by the colonists, but both were under control of the king. In a few 
years the representative system prevailed, but the governor retained the 
power of veto. She was more closely allied to the Crown than the more 
northern colonies, and remained loyal to the Stuarts. Charles II. ruled her 
while in exile, and Virginia refused to recognize the dictator, Cromwell. 
Refugees from England were gladly received during these troublous times, 
and when the Stuarts were returned, her joy was unbounded. 

On the other hand the colonists of New England had come to America 
to get rid of kingly rule, and were of a different spirit and temper. In the 
little cabin of the Mayflower they had signed their compact of government 
and selected their own governor. Every member of the church was an 
elector, and could hold office. This democratic form of government 
continued for sixty years, until the despotic James II. took it away and 
appointed a governor of his own choosing. They cordially supported 
Cromwell, and hesitated for two years after the restoration of Charles II. 
before they recognized him as their king. These colonies were the most 
democratic and the least tolerant of kingly interference of any of the colonies 
in the New World. New York, which had been given to the Duke of York, 
had its governor appointed by him. Pennsylvania was bestowed upon Penn, 
who had a right to name its governor. But at last all the colonies came 
to receive a governor from the king. Connecticut held out longer than the 
rest, and when the governor, appointed by the king, came to Hartford to 



42 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1755 

demand the charter of the colony ; it was hidden in the hollow of an oak tree, 
afterward known as the Charter Oak. 

While the colonies had as yet no thought of separation from the Old 
Country they were still in the presence of a common enemy. The French 
had taken Canada and the present State of Louisiana, and thus were 
stretching down from the north, and up from the south, a line of trading 
posts and settlements, which was a continual menace to the western frontier 
of the colonies. The French were inciting the Indians to attack the English, 
and there were constant incursions upon the pioneers who were moving 
westward from the coast. Sooner or later the trial of strength must come 
between these rival forces. The French claimed the Mississippi River and 
the fertile valley of the Ohio. To establish this claim, they sent three 
hundred soldiers into this valley and nailed upon the trees leaden plates 
bearing the French coat of arms, and drove out the scattering English who 
had ventured there. The English, on their part, had given large grants of 
land to a trading company, who agreed to colonize the valley, establish trading 
relations with the natives, and a competent military force. This was in 1749, 
and then the two nations were preparing for war. The home government 
left the colonies to carry on the struggle for themselves. 

Virginia raised a little army and appointed a young man of twenty-one, 
in whom they had great confidence to command it. His name was George 
Washington ; a name destined, a few years later, to become famous over the 
whole world. He started for a fort on the Ohio, to hold it as an out-post 
against the French, but after toiling on in the pathless forest for six weeks, 
he received intelligence that the French were coming towards him with a 
force far out-numbering his. He halted and built a fort, which he called 
Fort Necessity, because his men were half starved while building it. Nor did 
they build it any too soon ; for the French attacked the fort, and after a 
brave resistance, W^ashington was obliged to surrender, upon honorable terms, 
and return to Virginia. 

This campaign was honorable to Washington, but resulted in no especial 
advantage to the colonies. This contest between the colonies of French 
and English was going on for a year and a half before war was declared 
between the two great nations. But the English were aroused to the 
necessity of doing something to secure the rich Ohio valley, and they sent 
Edward Braddock, an officer of distinction, with two regiments of soldiers, to 
aid the colonies. He began his campaign in 1755, with two thousand troops. 
He had learned the best rules of war in the broad battle fields of Europe, but 
was perfectly unacquainted with the rude tactics of the W^est. Wash- 
ington was invited to join his staff, and the young man eager to retrieve his 
loss in the former campaign, assented. The English general started on his 
march, June loth, to reach Fort Duquesne, on the Ohio, the great center of 
French power in the valley. Ohio was the objective point of Washington in 
his former expedition, and was deemed of great importance. This fort had 
been built by the English and taken from them by the French. Benjamin 



1759] THE COLONIAL PERIOD. 43 

Franklin told General Braddock that " he would undoubtedly take the fort 
if he could reach it, but the long slender line which his army must form on 
the march would be cut like a thread in several pieces by the hostile Indians." 
Braddock "smiled at his ignorance." Franklin offered no further opinion, 
but performed his duties of collecting horses and equipage for the army. 
The young aid-de-camp, Washington, offered some suggestions based on his 
•experience, but the general would not listen to any advice from a provincial 
subordinate. No scouts were sent out, and the commander did not know 
how near his unseen foes might be. He was marching along a road twelve 
feet wide, when suddenly an Indian war-hoop burst upon the air, and a 
murderous fire opened upon them. The battle lasted three hours and 
General Braddock was killed. " Who would have thought it ? " said the 
dying man as they carried him from the field. 

Washington was the only mounted ofificer who remained unharmed, 
while the regulars, seeing their general fall, fled in confusion. But young 
Washington rallied the provincials and covered the retreat of the regulars 
with such a desperate defense that the Indians did not follow. One half of 
the entire force had been killed, and the remainder returned, disheartened and 
broken, at the end of a disastrous expedition. 

War was now proclaimed between France and England, and the siege of 
Quebec by the English General Wolfe followed. This was the crowning 
achievement of a long and tedious war which established the English in 
possession of Canada, and saved the Northwest to the Anglo-Saxon crown. 

The English fleet came to Quebec in June, 1759, with a large force. 
Captain James Cook, the famous navigator, who had been the first to sail 
around the world, was in charge of one of the ships, and General Wolfe had 
command of the army. The city was divided into an upper town, on the 
Iieights of Abraham, beyond the reach of the guns from the fleet, and a lower 
town, on the banks of the river. The lower town was quickly reduced, but 
the upper town held out against any attempt of the English. But the 
enthusiastic young general was not to be baffled, and carefully searched the 
coast for miles around. He found an opening where a path led up to the 
heights above, and here Wolfe resolved to land his men, lead an attack and 
capture the French position, or perish in the attempt. One night in 
September, he landed his men silently, and they quietly clambered up the 
high hill, while the sailors contrived to drag up a few heavy guns. When the 
morning rose the whole army stood on the Heights of Abraham. 

Montcalm, the French commander, was so taken by surprise at the 
presence of the enemy, that he refused to believe the first report which came to 
him. But he lost no time in forming his line of battle, and made a fierce and 
bloody contest with his unexpected assailants. Both generals fell in the 
conflict, Wolfe dying happy at the thought of the French defeat. As his 
blood was flowing he heard the shouts, " They fly ! They fly!" He raised 
his head to ask, "Who fly?" "The French," was the answer. "Then I die 
content," said the hero. The French General died thankful he was not 



44 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[I75S 



compelled to surrender to the English. These men died as enemies but 
after-generations blended the two names upon a common monument, which 
marks out to posterity the scene of this decisive battle. The French made 
an ineffectual attempt to regain Quebec the following year. In due time the 
French surrendered Canada to the English ; at the same time, Spain gave up 
Florida to England ; and thus the English held undisputed possession of 
America from the regions of perpetual ice and snow to the Gulf of Mexico. 

All these contests with the savages and the French had fallen with heaviest 
weight upon the colonists, although they had received some assistance from 
the home government in the latter part of the struggle. The colonies had 
poured out then- blood and treasure without stint and were loyal to their 
King. They were proud of the mother country, and were willing to do their 
utmost to support the honor of the English flag. A hundred and fifty years 
had passed since the settlement of the feeble colonies on the Atlantic coast 
They were self-sustaining and prosperous and their increase in numbers ancl 
wealth was most remarkable. Thousands were coming every year to seek 
their fortunes in the West. America opened her wide arms to the oppressed 
and offered them the blessing of liberty and comfort. The thirteen colonies 
had increased to a population of three millions and were upon the eve of a 
mighty struggle. 




m. 




THE GATHERING CLOUD. 






)^^1^^'^!R ^ may be a natural question to ask, how it came to pass 

^^ifivi * fe'L'ifeiiw i^'i^t in the short space of ten or twelve years the 

^A^ ISI" ^-Arifci affection and respect which the colonies had for England, 

which they still fondly called " home," were changed to 

^|[1 hatred and a desire for separation ? What cause had 

^^® been at work to sever the bonds of attachment, and 



1- 






■*\^4,:-^:■ 



"^[''W''"' " awaken the mighty spirit of resistance which spread all 

r'T^te' over the country ? For generations they had spoken the same 
^j^ language, and had a common code of laws, while glorying in the 
^jv^^l^ history of the past. 

\k?Pi- England was the model in all things, and to be an " Old 

j^-M J^ England man " gave one a prestige and position among the 
1-^ colonists ; while all yielded a willing obedience to her laws. They 
s^p^ were governed, as Benjamin Franklin had said, " at the mere expense 
of ink and paper." Money was voted without grudge by their 
assemblies, and all the relations between the colonies and the home 
government were of the pleasantest kind, and such was their love 
for England that " they were led by a thread." 

But a wonderful change was wrought in the public mind, and the aroused 
people resolved in their public gathering by the most solemn compact, that 
they would not use any article of English manufacture, or engage in any 
transaction which would bring money into the pockets of the English. They 
tarred and feathered any person who expressed friendliness for the British, 



46 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1775 

and burned the acts of Parliament by the common hangman. They fired 
upon the king's soldiers, and resisted the authority of the king's government. 
In fact, the thirteen colonies were in open rebellion and armed resistance. 
What had caused this wonderful change, and how were three millions of 
obedient subjects taught to despise and fight against the very men whom 
they had before regarded as fellow countrymen ? The answer to these 
questions can be summed up in one sentence. The persistent ignorance and 
folly of the English government, urged on by cupidity and a desire to wring 
out of the prosperous colonies a rich revenue to replenish the depleted 
treasury of the country that had become exhausted in the expensive wars of 
Europe, wrought all this evil, and lost to the English crown her richest 
possessions in the western world. The result was that a new nation was 
formed that was destined to become the leading power of Christendom, but 
it would have been better if she had gone in peace, and thus not engendered 
an animosity that lasted for two generations, and led to two disastrous wars 
between men of the same language and religion. We come now to the story 
of this struggle. 

England had shown for many years a disposition to govern her American 
colonies in a spirit of harshness and undisguised selfishness. The interest of 
England was the chief object, and not the good of the colonies. No foreign 
vessels could land in American ports, and woolen fabrics could not be taken 
from one colony to another. At one time the manufacture of hats was 
forbidden. Iron works were prohibited, and up to the last the Bible could 
not be printed in America. The colonies had borne the expense of their own 
governments and defenses, but now the long-continued struggle had left the 
treasury of England very low, and Parliament came to discuss the propriety 
of taxing the colonies for the benefit of the home government. The eager 
eye of Lord Greenville was searching for something new to tax, and he saw 
that America was growing rich and powerful. The English officers who had 
served in the West, had brought back the most glowing accounts of its 
resources and prosperity. The English merchants were already envious of 
their increasing wealth. When the House of Commons passed their 
resolution setting forth their right to tax the colonies, not a single voice or 
vote opposed the measure. Thereupon an act was passed imposing a tax 
upon silks, sugar, coffee, and other articles used in the colonies. The 
Americans remonstrated, and claimed that taxation and representation should 
go together ; they were willing to vote what money the king might require 
of them, but they would not pay taxes when they had no voice in laying 
them. But Lord Greenville, who thought the Americans would finally submit, 
persisted in his course. The act called the Stamp Act was passed at the 
next session of Parliament in 1765, this required a government stamp on all 
legal documents. Benjamin Franklin told the House of Commons that 
America would never submit to this, and no power on earth could enforce it. 
Nor could England long misunderstand the position of the colonies upon this 



1765] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 47 

question. Everywhere in New England riots were raised, and the Stamp Act 
was denounced. 

The stamp distributors were obh'ged to resign. A universal protest that 
Ihey would not eat, drink, or use anything which came from England, was 
passed by the citizens everywhere. The act came in force November 1st, 
1765, and on that day the bells tolled, and the people appeared as if some 
great public calamity had fallen upon them. 

Not a stamp was sold in America, but business went on all the same, men 
were married, and bought and sold their goods. The courts were held and all 
the functions of government went on ; but all this was illegal because it was 
done without stamps. Yet no serious harm came of it. The English were 
astonished, and some demanded that the Stamp Act be enforced with the 
sword, but the British merchants feared the loss of their trade with(.the 
colonies if this were done. 

William Pitt, afterwards the Earl of Chatham, joined with the merchants 
and caused a repeal of the law the very next year. But stupid old King 
George never ceased to regret " the fatal repeal of the Stamp Act." 

The first inter-colonial Congress was raised during this excitement. It 
met at New York, but did little else than agitate and discuss the situation 
of things. It accomplished a good design in showing the tendency of Union 
between the States. 

The approaching crisis was delayed for a little time by the repeal of the 
Stamp Act. But when the feeling in England was stormy against the 
colonies, Charles Townshend, the virtual Prime Minister of England, during 
the sickness of Pitt, proposed to levy various taxes on America. All his 
proposed measures became laws. The most obnoxious of them was a tax of 
three pence a pound on tea. This act was passed in 1767. 

The Americans despaired of justice and right from the English Parliament, 
yet they hardly dared to think of open separation, but already the most 
thoughtful among them were becoming fixed in their opinion as to what the 
issue would be. They protested, they appealed, they held large public 
meetings, and everywhere the people were inflamed with a sense of their 
injuries, other laws restricting the liberties of America were passed by 
Parliament, and the people resorted to the last step in the solution of the 
fearful problem. Riots were raised, the foreign officials were resisted, and 
public meetings were held to deliberate upon their grievances. 

English troops were sent across the ocean to preserve order. Their 
presence was galling to the citizens, who could not brook this restraint upon 
their liberty. 

The press, the pulpit, and the assemblies of representatives in all the 
colonies were bold in their utterances against the tyranny of the old country. 
The General Court of Massachusetts, called on their governor to remove the 
soldiers, but he was powerless. The governor called upon the court to raise 
money to maintain the troops, and they took infinite pleasure in refusing to 



48 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1775 

raise money for that purpose. Then came the Boston massacre, in which the 
troops fired upon the citizens, and killed and wounded eleven persons. This 
inflamed the zeal of the patriots still more, and the entire populace was 
aroused. The people again demanded the removal of the troops from the 
city, and the trial of the soldiers for murder. This was complied with, and 
two of the soldiers were found guilty of murder, by a Boston jury. 

Parliament now wavered in its treatment of America, and removed all the 
duties, except the small one on tea. But they had mistaken the feeling of 
their colonies. It was not the amount of the tax to which they objected^ 
but the principal of taxation without representation. 

In the spring of 1773, ships laden with the taxed tea, appeared in the 
bay of Boston. The crisis has now arrived. Although it is Sunday, a 
council was called in the exigency. If that tea is landed, it will be sold and 
liberty will become a by-word in America. 

Samuel Adams, a man of strict integrity and powerful eloquence as a 
speaker and writer, was the true leader of the revolt in Massachusetts. He 
was one of the first who saw at the outset that there could be no stopping- 
place short of independence. " We are free," he said, " and want no king." 
He assumed the leadership of his fellows, and was worth)' of the trust. They 
hoped that the officers of the East Indian Company, in whose employ the 
ships were engaged, would send them back, but they refused. Days of intense 
excitement followed. Public meetings were held constantly in an old building, 
Faneuil Hall, afterward known as the cradle of American liberty. One day 
the debate waxed hot, and the people continued together till night-falL 
Samuel Adams announced, " This meeting can do nothing more to save 
the country," and with a shout it broke up. The excited crowd hastened 
down to the wharf, led by fifty men disguised as Indians. This band of 
disguised men, rushed on ship board, broke open the boxes of tea, and 
poured their contents into the harbor. The crowd looked on in silence, and 
not a sound was heard but the striking of the hatchets, and the splash of the 
ruined tea in the water. That cargo of tea would bring no taxes into the 
English treasury, that was certain. This was the night of December i6th, 
1773, and was the first move of the colonists toward open resistance. Then 
they waited to see what might be the next move of England. 

Lord North was then Prime Minister of the English Crown, and he 
determined to deal harshly with such men. The port of Boston was closed as 
a port of entry and sailing for shipping ; a heavy fine Avas imposed for the 
destruction of the tea. The charter of Massachusetts was revoked, and the 
governor was ordered to send political offenders to England for trial. In 
spite of the remonstrance of Lord Chatham, and of Edmund Burke, these 
measures became laws. Four regiments of regulars were sent to Boston, 
under the command of General Gage. The Americans held a day of fasting 
and prayer. More than this, they organized military companies, and began 
the process of equipment and drill. While all this was going on in the 
northen provinces, the other Colonies were not idle, but Massachusetts received 



1/75] 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 



49 



the heaviest blows of vengeance. An invitation to all the Colonies to meet 
in General Congress at Philadelphia, on the fifth day of September, 1774, was 
sent out by the sturdy Representatives, who met in Salem, Massachusetts. 
Twelve States sent delegations to this Congress. Georgia, the youngest and 
most southern of the thirteen Colonics, alone stood trembling upon the verge 
of the perilous enterprise. 

The first General Congress of the American States, met in Carpenter's 
Hall, in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th day of September, 1774, agreeable 
to this call. The regular business of the Congress, began on the 7th, and was 
opened with prayer. In all their proceedmgs, decorum, firmness, moderation 
and loyalty were manifested, and the delegates voted to adjourn to the loth day 
of the following May, unless the English Crown in the meantime should redress 
their grievances. But King George was blind and stubborn. 

Lord Chatham said in open Parliament of the men who formed this 
Continental Congress : " For solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and 
wisdom of conclusion under such a complication of circumstances, no nation, 
or bod)' of men can stand in preference to the General Congress in Phila- 
delphia." Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was President, and Charles 
Thompson, of Pennsylvania, was secretary of this body. George Washington, 
Patrick Henry, John Routledge, Richard Henry Lee, John Dickinson, and 
other men of that stamp were there. Washington assures us that this 
Congress did not aim at independence, but a removal of wrongs. The time 
was ripe for open resistance, and the patriots of Massachusetts were busy in 
the autumn and winter of 1774, in making preparations for war, and uniting 
the people to meet the storm that was sure to come. 




so 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1775 





THE BURSTING OF THE STORM. 



O alternative M-as now left to the colonists, and they 
saw that they must fight for their liberties or forego 
them altogether. Throughout the State of Massachu- 
setts, where the heel of the oppressor was planted the 
heaviest, the most active preparations were in progress. 
1^ Minute men were drilling, and stores of arms and 



where 



3-0 



ammunition were being collected in central places, 
they would be considered safe from seizure by the 
British. The press and the pulpit vied with the rostrum in 
their bold defiance of the aggression of the soldiers. Fathers 
and sons were urged on by their wives and mothers, and the 
spirit of freedom incited them to deeds of danger and sacrifice. 
The ofificers of the English Government were insulted, the 
soldiers defied, and the laws set at defiance. Such was the 
condition of things when the spring of 1775 dawned upon the 
conflict. This is regarded as the first year of the long struggle of 
seven years which was to test the strength of the young country in 
her contest with the victorious armies of English warriors who came 
fresh from the battle-fields of Europe. 

General Gage, the commander of the British forces in Boston, had 
learned that a large amount of military stores were secreted at Concord, 
eighteen miles away. He decided to send an expedition to seize it in the 
king's name. He sent eight hundred soldiers upon the errand. To prevent 
the tidings from being carried to the patriots the general forbade any one 
going out of Boston. The troops were silently, landed at the foot of the 
Common, where the tide then reached, under the pretence of learning a new 
kind of drill. Doctor Warren, afterwards killed at Bunker Hill, made 
arrangements with his friend, Paul Revere, to carry " the tidings to every 
Middlesex village and farm." Young Revere escaped from Boston in a small 
boat just five minutes before the guard was stationed to prevent any one from 
leaving the city. He was to notify Hancock and Adams who were at 
Lexington, and to arouse the people all along the route. Revere waited on 
the Charlestown shore until his friend should learn how the British were to 
proceed. He was to hang a lantern in the North Church tower, " one if by 
land and two if by sea." At the instant the twin lights appeared upon 
the tower, he dashed off in the darkness and spread the tidings. He reached 
Lexington and warned Hancock and Adams. Then he proceeded toward 
Concord, but was arrested by a British guard, not, however, until he had 
communicated the news to a friend, who carried it forward. 

The British crossed the Charles River and marched all night, and reached 
Lexington just as day was breaking. The minute men were called by the 



1775] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 51 

beating of the drum, and sixty or seventy farmers stood in their ranks to 
meet ten times as many trained soldiers. 

There they stood on the Common, in the cold frosty morning as the 
regulars came up. Captain John Parker had ordered them not to fire on the 
British until they had first fired on them. Major Pitcairn rode up and 
ordered the " villains " and " rebels," with an oath to disperse, and instantly 
commanded his men to fire on them. 

The captain of the Continentals had intended to disperse his men, but 
the fire of the British had killed eleven and wounded nine, one-fourth of the 
whole. The British fire was returned only by a few of the wounded men ; not 
an Englishman was harmed. But the war had begun by the cold-blooded 
murder of Americans on their own soil. 

It was no battle and the act of the British ofificer was nothing less than 
wanton murder. Samuel Adams said when he heard it, " Oh ! what a 
glorious morning this is," knowing that it would rally and unite all the 
people. The regulars cheered over their triumph of sixty or seventy farmers, 
who had not attacked them, and pressed on to Concord. They reached here 
at seven in the morning, but were too late, for the news of their coming had 
preceded them several hours. The military stores had most of them been 
removed and hidden away, and but little remained for them to destroy. In 
the mean time the towns all around had been aroused, and the militia were 
pouring in from every direction. There were not enough to attack the 
troops, nor was there any serious thoughts of doing so, and they were with- 
drawn from the village of Concord to a hill on the other side of the river. 
The British scattered to find the concealed stores, and one party went ove> 
the north bridge and one over the south. As the party went over the north 
bridge, the provincial troops, if troops we could call them, were in plain sight, 
and therefore, a part of the regulars, about one hundred, were left to guard 
the bridge, while the rest, about the same number, went over. The 
Continentals saw the British at the bridge and could see the smoke that arose 
across the bridge. What should they do ? see their houses burned and not 
go to the rescue of their wives and children ? They consulted and agreed to 
march down to the bridge, but not a man was to fire until they had been fired 
upon. The British saw them coming and began to tear up the bridge. The 
Continentals hurried on and the British fired upon them, — at first one or t^vo 
shots by which no harm was done ; then more shots were fired ; two men 
were wounded ; a whole volley and two of the patriots were killed. " Vire ! 
fellow soldiers ; for God's sake, fire ! " cried Captain John Buttrick, leaping 
into the air and turning to his men. This began the American revolution. 
Two British were killed and several injured. Blood had been shed by men in 
armed rebellion, and the men who had done it were rebels ai,d traitors. 
There could be no backward steps now, and the contest must wage till one or 
the other side should give in. This was the battle of Concord, and the first 

' f the war. 

" British retreated from the town, as quickly as possible toward 



52 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1755 

Lexington and Boston. It had been a mild winter followed by an early 
spring, and the day was intensely hot. The provision train which was to 
supply them with food had been taken, and all they could get was what they 
might plunder from the citizens. Nor was this the worst, for the minute men 
without any orders from their ofificers, but each on his own account, lay in 
ambush behind trees and fences and stone-walls, where they were safe, 
and kept up a harassing fire upon the retreating British to the very 
shelter of their ships. As the troops would pass by one place the 
patriots would go forward by by-paths and fire upon them again from 
another position. When one party became worn out, fresh recruits would 
come up from the surrounding country, and thus the war was kept up 
all along the distressing march back to Boston. The march was kept 
up in good order at first, <but broke into an irregular rout at last. 
About two o'clock in the afternoon they were met by twelve hundred 
British troops, sent out from Boston to aid them with two pieces of 
artillery. But their position was perilous even after the arrival of these 
reinforcements. The colonists were increasing in numbers every moment, 
and unless they moved rapidly the whole force w'ould be cut off. The 
firing began again, and more and more of the patriots came up to aid the 
weary Continentals, and they fought like men in thorough earnest, and 
although they were undisciplined and their methods were crude they put the 
very flower of the English army to the worst, and it was not till seven o'clock 
at night that the regulars were safe under the protection of the guns of their 
ships. 

The British lost sev^enty-three killed, one hundred and seventy-two 
Avounded, and twenty-six missing ; while the Americans had forty-nine killed 
thirty-six wounded and six missing. The British suffered heavily in the loss 
of officers. This was the opening contest that the British had forced upon 
their patient and loyal subjects in America, and which was to rage for 
seven years. We will now speak of some of the heroes whose names are 
conspicuous in this period of American history. 




1/65] 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 



S3 




GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY. 

HE man who was fondly regarded, "the first in war; 
the first in peace, and the first in the hearts of his 
countrymen," can trace the Hne of his ancestry, beyond 
the Norman conquest in England. 

He was born February 22nd, 1732, in Virginia, and 
educated by his mother, who became a widow when her 
'^^ eldest son was eleven years of age. She early instilled 
into his mind a love of goodness and truth, which gave a color 
to all his after life, and to a great extent, moulded the destinies 
of America. Under her gentle yet firm control, George learned 
the great lessons of obedience and self-command, and in early 
life gave promise of the excellences which would ripen into a 
^ well-rounded manhood. He had his mother's love of command, 
and inherited her calm, judicial character of mind. Even 
among his schoolmates he became an arbitrator of their dis- 
Xyj^^^K^ putes and would not allow anything unjust or unfair. His 
"^. S' person was large and powerful, and he delighted in athletic 
sports, and out of door pursuits. He had a bodily frame suited to a lofty 
soul, and could endure hardship, toil and fatigue, to almost any extent. His 
education was limited, and he learned no language but his mother tongue. 
He learned mathematics and land surveying, the keeping of accounts, and 
the framing of legal documents. This was the extent of his literary 
acquirements. But George Washington was precise and exact in every thing 
he undertook. His copy books, and measurements of surveying when studying, 
were as neat and scrupulously kept, as if they were of great pecuniary value. 
At the age of eighteen, we find him serving as a government surveyor for 
the State of Virginia. Many of his returns are on file in the county court- 
house, and are so very accurate that their evidence is taken in contested 
disputes to this day, where the measurement, or boundary of land is involved. 
He was Adjutant General of one of the military districts of his native State 
before the Indian war, and as we have seen, was sent to the Ohio valley 
with a body of troops, when he was not yet twenty-two years of age. He 
covered the retreat of the remnant of General Braddock's army, after his 
death, and was a member of the first Continental Congress at Philadelphia in 
1774. He was for the years prior to the Revolution engaged in conducting; 
the affairs of his private estate at Mount Vernon, Virginia, where he shipped 
his tobacco, kept his books and conducted his own correspondence. He raised 
a large quantity of wheat, and ground it at his own mill. It became renowned 
for its excellent quality, and such was his reputation for business integrity 
that no one thought of inspecting the barrel which bore his brand. He had 
the rare combination of a massive intellect, an iron will, and a gentle, loving 



54 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1765 

heart. In him was united a perfect equipoise of all the elements of manhood, 
and in a great degree did he combine the qualities of the Spartan Lycurgus, 
the Roman Cincinnatus, and the Greek Alexander. A true patriot, a born 
leader, and a safe counselor in the army, in congress and at the head of 
government ; he was the chosen instrument of Providence, raised up to meet 
the demand of the times in which he lived, and to earn the proud title which 
succeeding generations have given him, " The Father of his Country." 

History has assigned him a high position among her noble names, and 
delights to point to him as a revolutionary leader, against whom the least act 
of wrong has never been alleged. Such was the man around whose name 
crystallizes the noble deeds of the Revolution in America. The life of this 
man has been so interwoven into the history of the nation, as to form a large 
part of it. 

JOHN HANCOCK. 

This man was President of the Congress which passed the " Declaration 
of Independence," and his bold autograph stands at the head of the names 
which are signed to that immortal bill of rights. It is a bold defiance to the 
home government, and flaunted like the battle-flag of freedom, it stands at 
the head of the list of noted names, in its vigorous strength a type of the 
man whose courage and undaunted power of will moved the pen which 
affixed it there in distinct characters for future generations to read, as he said 
King George could do, " without spectacles." He was born at Braintree, 
Massachusetts, in 1737, and received a collegiate education at Harvard, after 
which he became a clerk to his uncle, and at the death of the latter inherited 
his great wealth. He was the most wealthy and the most popular of all the 
leaders during the Revolutionary struggle in Massachusetts. He began his 
public career quite early in life, and was President of the first Provincial 
Congress which met, independent of royal authority, in Salem, Massachusetts, 
in October, 1774 ; also at the Continental Congress of 1776. 

June loth, 1775, General Gage commanding the British forces in Boston, 
issued his proclamation declaring the colonists rebels and traitors, but offering 
pardon to all who would give up their arms and take the oath of loyalty to 
the king, except John Hancock and Samuel Adams, whom he proposed 
to send to England to be hanged. 

He was a staunch patriot, and did much throughout the struggle to aid 
the army and supply provisions and equipments. He was Major General of 
the Massachusetts militia, and was sadly disappointed that he was not chosen 
Commander-in-Chief of the Continental forces. But for all this, he did not 
desert the Colonies, but gave his services and his money to his country 
without stint, and was unswerving in his loyalty to the American cause. 

John Hancock was Governor of Massachusetts after the war, and died in 
in 1793, honored and respected by all. He was buried in the old Granary 
Ivnying-ground, in Boston, where lies the dust of many of Massachusetts' 
njble dead. 



1782] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 55 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

When George Washington was passing his boyhood at Mount Vernon, 
there was a young man at Philadelphia who was modestly toiling to gain a 
livelihood. He was a printer, publisher, stationer, and kept a store for the 
sale of sundry articles. He became a thriving man, and by his simple habits, 
genial disposition, and pure character won the esteem of his fellow citizens. 
More than this, he was a popular writer, and a studious gentleman, whose 
name would afterwards be sounded over the world as a great philosopher. 
He would demonstrate to the savans of Europe that electricity and lightning 
were the same, and give the scientific world a proof that there are 
investigators and original thinkers among the rude people of the west. But 
he was more than this even, he was a patriot and statesman who would be an 
invaluable assistant to the generals in the field. This man was Benjamin 
Franklin, the printer, the economist, the philosopher, the patriot and the 
statesman. He was born in Boston, January 17th, 1706, of humble 
parentage. He was apprenticed to his brother to the trade of a printer, but 
set out at the age of seventeen to seek his fortunes in Philadelphia, without 
money or friends. In 1729 he established a newspaper, and began the 
publication of Poor Richard's Almanac in 1732. He established the free 
library of Philadelphia. He was appointed Deputy Postmaster General of 
the American Colonies in 1753, a year after he had astonished the world with 
his scientific discoveries. In 1764 he was sent to Parliament as a delegate 
from the Colonies to protest against the obnoxious Stamp Act, and after 
being examined before a committee of the House of Commons where he 
acquitted himself with remarkable ability, he returned home. He was chosen 
a member of the second Continental Congress in 1775, and the next year was 
a member of the committee which framed the Declaration of Independence. 
Franklin, very early in the contest, agitated the separation of the Colonies 
from England, and took a prominent part in all the councils of that eventful 
period. In 1776 he was sent as the first ambassador to the fashionable court 
of France, where the good sense and simple manners of the old printer gained 
the favor of the French. He succeeded in effecting a treaty between the two 
governments which was signed at Paris, February 6th, 1778. He lived to a 
ripe old age, assisted in framing the Constitution, and was the instrument of 
forming the treaty of peace with England in 1782. He died in 1790 and was 
buried at Philadelphia. 

ISRAEL PUTNAM. 

The hero of Connecticut, who did much to arouse the zeal of the United 
Colonies of Connecticut and New Haven, deserves more than a passing 
notice. He had taken an active and honorable part in the early Indian and 
French wars, and was Major General of the Connecticut troops at the 
outbreak of the Revolution. In his wars with the Indians he had been taken 
prisoner, and at one time was bound to the stake to be tormented by having 
the savages toss their tomahawks at him with such dexterity as not to cut him 



56 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1775 



with them, but he had been rescued by an unexpected deliverance. He 
had once engaged with a wolf alone in a den, and by his coolness and bravery 
in many exploits had won the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens. He 
was a true patriot, and a stern disciplinarian. After the battles of Concord 
and Lexington had stirred the people of Massachusetts to deeds of valor, the 
tidings came to Putnam, as he was ploughing on his Connecticut farm. He 
unyoked his oxen, sent word to his family that he had started for Boston, 
mounted his horse and rode off to join the patriots in their noble defences. 
He was conspicuous for bravery at the battle of Bunker Hill, and rallied the 
militia who turned to run. Some years after this, he stood up in the church 
of which he was a member to answer to the sin of swearing on this occasion, 
and partially justified himself by saying that " it was almost enough to make 
an angel swear to see the cowards refuse to secure a victory so nearly won." 

Putnam was born at Salem, Massachusetts, in 171S, and emigrated to 
eastern Connecticut in early life. He was conspicuous in all the exploits with 
the Indians of that period and regarded as a brave and fearless man. In 
1778, he was commissioned as a Major General of the Continental army. He 
was in command of the army at New York Highlands, and superintended the 
erection of the fortifications at West Point on the Hudson. He died in 1790, 
at the age of seventy-two. 

PATRICK HENRY, THE ORATOR. 

'HIS man, who was a perfect Boanerges (son of thunder), 
at the outset of the Revolution, was also a native of 
Virginia, where he was born in Hanover county, in 1736. 
It is said that he was stupid as a scholar, and indolent in 
his habits during his youth, and gave no promise of the 
great power he possessed as a thinker and orator. His 
remarkable eloquence first broke out when he was 
twenty-seven, and his reputation as an orator spread over his 
native state after this. He was the first Governor of Virginia 
elected by the people, and served in that office for two terms. 
He was the first of all the public speakers of America to hurl 
down the gauntlet of defiance to the English. In the year 
1763, he introduced into the house of Burgesses, of Virginia, of 
ly* which he was a member, a series of resolutions highly tinctured 
^<^ with treason. They boldly maintained the doctrine that all the 
Colonies, and especially Virginia, alone had the right to impose 
taxes upon the people of that province, and they were not 
bound to obey any law in reference to taxation which did not proceed from 
their own representatives. The last resolution declared that whoever 
dissented from the opinions set forth in the resolutions preceding, was an 
enemy to the Colonies. 

He supported them with all the power of his matchless eloquence. In 
the midst of this memorable speech, when the impassioned orator had 




■1/82] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 57 

exclaimed, " Cjesar had his Brutus ; Charles the First his Cromwell, and 
George the Third — " " Treason ! Treason ! " cried a voice from the gallery — 
" may profit by their example. // tliat is treason, make the most of it" 
finished Henry. He was a member of the first Continental Congress, as we 
liave seen. The members sat silent in the assembly which gathered in ■ 
■Carpenter's Hall on that memorable day, the fifth of September, 1774. Not a 
voice broke the silence, and deep anxiety sat on every face. All at once a 
■grave looking man in a suit of minister's gray arose, and poured forth a 
torrent of eloquence in a sweet musical voice which stirred the hearts of all. 
" Who is he ? " was whispered from lip to lip. The few who knew him 
answered " Patrick Henry, of Virginia." There was no longer any hesitation 
in the Congress, and the deliberations of that body went on to the end. His 
eloquence was of a high character, and impassioned in its style. In the 
Virginia House of Burgesses, on the 23d day of March, 1775, before the battle 
of Concord and Lexington, he again aroused the enthusiasm of his fellow 
delegates in a patriotic speech, which has been published in nearly ever}^ 
school reader since that time, and ended with the sentence which became the 
rallying cry of the Revolution, " GIVE ME LIBERTY, OR GIVE ME DEATH." 
Twenty-six days after this. Governor Dunmore seized and conveyed on board 
the British man-of-war a quantity of gunpowder belonging to the Colony of 
Virginia. The enraged citizens compelled him to leave his palace at Williams- 
burg, and flee for his life on board of the same vessel. In October of the 
same year, the deposed governor landed with regular troops to punish the 
Colony and seize the town of Hampton, near Old Point Comfort. Patrick 
Henry at the head of the militia defeated him, and compelled him to pay 
for the gunpowder he had taken away the June before. His regiment carried 
the first known American flag in this engagement, with the words " LIBERTY 
OR Death " and the picture of a coiled serpent under which were the words, 
'■'' Don't tread on tne." 

The soldiers were clad in green hunting shirts, with the words " LIBERTY 
OR Death " printed across the bosom. They wore hats with long bucks' 
tails trailing behind, and a belt with tomahawks and scalping knives stuck in 
them, and made a formidable appearance as they marched through the 
province. We will find the mention of Patrick Henry as we proceed further 
in the history. 

SAMUEL ADAMS. 

This man was the true leader in the city of Boston during the excitement 
of the Stamp Act and the destruction of the tea. He was then a man of 
middle age, well educated and with a stainless reputation. He was a most 
powerful speaker and writer ; — a man who gathered his adherents by his 
eloquence, and held them by his wonderful power of persuasion and 
argument. He was a type of the old Puritan family from which he was 
descended, having been born in Boston, in 1732. His fellow citizens felt the 
power of his resolute will, and gladly followed when he led the way for them. 
The English rightly regarded him as a leader of the rebellion ; for when they 



58 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [178^ 

sent a proclamation to New England offering general amnesty to all who 
would lay down their arms and return to their allegiance to the crown, 
Samuel Adams and John Hancock were the only men who were exempt from 
the provision of pardon. 

The keen foresight of this man took in the situation at a glance, and saw 
from the first that there could be no halt for the Colonies until a complete 
separation from the old country was effected. His strength of argument and 
powerful eloquence in the General Court and before the people, did much to 
mould the action and direct the thoughts of the patriots of this stormy time. 
There can be no doubt that he was the leader in more than one encounter of 
the people with the soldiers before the battle of Lexington, and he was 
responsible for the destruction of the tea in Boston harbor. He seemed eager 
to incite the Colony to open rebellion, and was delighted with the news of the 
conflict at Concord and Lexington. 

At the assembly of the representatives of Massachusetts, in Salem, which 
sent out the invitation that resulted in the first General Congress, they 
provided for a plan of union between the Colonies, raised munitions of war 
and formed a league of non-intercourse with England. General Gage sent his 
own secretary to dissolve the Assembly, but the door of the chamber was 
locked and Samuel Adams had the key in his pocket. He was one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence, and afterward governor of 
Massachusetts. He was a true man, a noble patriot, a born leader of the 
people, and in the hours which tried men's souls he was brave, undaunted 
and heroic. 

The unflinching advocate of liberty, he was the first to pledge " his life, 
his fortune and his sacred honor," to the cause he loved, and his countrymen 
loved to do him honor. He died in 1803. 

There are many other illustrious names of this period. General Warren, 
who fell at Bunker Hill, Henry Knox, the warm friend of Washington, 
General Gates and a host of noble men, heroes all of them ; but we must 
hasten on with our history, and let their heroic deeds speak their praise in 
more eloquent terms than words can proclaim. 




1775] 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 



59 




BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL, AND SIEGE OF BOSTON. 



E will resume the line of history at the point where 
we left off: the return of the discomfited British 
troops from their ill-fated expedition to Concord and 
Lexington. The initial blow for liberty had been 
struck, and it was appalling to friends and foes alike. 
The people were thoroughly aroused all over the land. 
General Gage had issued his proclamation of which we 
have spoken. 
Minute men were pouring from all parts of the country, and 
the other Colonies heartily espoused the cause of their sister, 
Massachusetts. The ministry of the crown had cut off the Colonies 
from protection, exempting New York, Delaware and North Carolina, 
but these Colonies had spurned the offer and united with the others 
in a common cause. The news spread like wild-fire that patriotic 
blood had been shed, and already American freedom could boast of 
her martyrs. Mounted couriers were galloping in hot haste all over 
the Colonies to carry the tidings of Lexington. " The war has begun ! " was 
shouted in market-place and by the press. And all true men saw that the 
time to lay aside the avocations of peace, and gird themselves for the contest, 
had arrived. In her great eagerness. North Carolina threw off the new 
allegiance to the crown and established her Colony into military companies. 
Georgia sent gifts of money and rice with cheering letters to the patriots of 
the North. There was a general rush tp arms in Virginia, under the arousing 
influence of the orator, Patrick Henry. From every town and hamlet of 
New England men were rushing to Boston. This city could be easily 
blockaded. Two narrow necks of land joined the peninsula to the main 
land ; one was called Boston neck, and the other Charlestown neck. Three 
thousand British soldiers were quickly hemmed in within the city, and still 
General Gage did not move. The New England yeomanry were pouring into 
the camp of the blockaders, undisciplined and ununiformed. The regulars of 
the English army mocked them as " a rabble with calico frocks and fowling- 
pieces." But they were free Anglo-Saxons with arms in their hands and a 
strong purpose in their hearts. It was unwise to despise such men. 

A number of aggressive movements were undertaken by volunteers 
against forts and garrisons, which were successful from their very boldness and 
unexpectedness. Among the most important of these, was the taking of 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, on Lake Champlain by the troops of 
Connecticut and Vermont. On the morning of the loth of May, 1775, 
Colonel Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys appeared in the vicinity 
of Fort Ticonderoga. It seems that there were two independent expeditiir. ; 



6o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1782 

ignorant of the purpose of each other. The Colony of Massachusetts had 
given Benedict Arnold a commission as Colonel, and ordered him to raise a 
force of four hundred men to reduce the two forts. Connecticut lent 
eighteen hundred dollars to aid the enterprise, and ammunition was purchased 
which, as we shall see, was not expended for that purpose. The Connecticut 
men were first in the field, and went to Vermont and offered the command to 
Ethan Allen. He was a bold, rough man who had made himself conspicuous 
by his resistance to the royal governor of New York, who attempted to take 
possession of Vermont. While the troops were concentrating at the rendezvous 
at Castleton, Arnold came up with his Massachusetts commission. He was 
allowed to join the army, but Allen was put in command. The first thing to 
be done was to obtain information of the condition of the fort. Captain 
Noah Phelps, of Connecticut, dressed as a farmer, went to the fort to get 
shaved, as he claimed he thought he could find a barber there. He obtained 
the information wanted and returned to the camp. 

On the evening of May 9th, the force of Green Mountain Boys were 
ready to embark in the only boat that could be procured ; but eighty-three 
men could cross at the same time. The two colonels went over in the first 
boat. When across the river, Allen could not wait for more men and under- 
took the capture of the fort at once. A young lad named Nathan Benean, led 
them to the fort. The sentry was captured, and the little force of eighty-three 
men took possession of the fort without firing a shot. The officers were asleep 
in their quarters when a terrified soldier pointed out the door of the com- 
manding officer. Colonel Allen cried out " Come forth instantly or I will 
sacrifice the whole garrison ! " Captain Delaplace, the English officer, had no 
time to dress and came out of his room as he was. " Deliver this fort, 
instantly!" said Allen. "By what authority?" asked the British captain. 
" In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," replied 
the patriot. So he was compelled to surrender his fortress before he had 
learned that the war had actually begun. At once the men were paraded 
without arms, and the Americans obtained two hundred cannon, and a large 
.stock of ammunition without a blow. Two days afterward, Colonel Seth 
Warren proceeded to capture Crown Point, which surrendered almost as easily 
as Ticonderoga, and then an armed sloop was taken on the lake. This gave 
the patriots complete control of Lake Champlain, and was of immense 
advantage to the Colonists. 

Provincial Congresses had been held in many of the Colonies and before 
the summer was gone every one had thrown off the authority of England. ' 

The second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia on the very day 
that Allen had taken Ticonderoga, and voted a very conciliatory and open- 
handed address to King George, but not to be too late, they at the same time 
took measures to organize the Continental army, appoint a commander and 
general officers, and raise money for the war. The Provincial Congress of 
Massachusetts appointed a committee of safety. May 19, 1775, sitting at 
Cambridge, with full powers to regulate the army of the province. Artemas 



1775] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 6i 

Ward was appointed Commander-in chief. Israel Putnam, John Stark, and 
other heroes of the French war were appointed to important commands. 

On the 25th of May, si.x EngUsh men-of-war sailed into Boston Harbor 
and it was rumored that reinforcements of troops with generals Howe, 
Burgoyne and Clinton, the best generals in the English army, were in these 
vessels. 

Gage now thought himself able to meet the undisciplined militia besieging 
him around Boston, but the Colonists did not permit him to choose his time 
and place for the first engagement. On the Charleston peninsula there are 
two hills in easy gun-shot of Boston, Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill. In a 
council of war it was decided to seize and fortify one of these hills and 
prepare for the onset of the English. The rumor came that Gage intended 
to occupy these hills, and fortify them on the morning of the eighteenth of 
June. Not a moment was to be lost ; on the evening of the sixteenth a band 
of twelve hundred Americans under Colonel Prescott, accompanied by 
General Putnam, were mustered on Cambridge Common for special duty. 

Prayers were said and they marched away in silence, not knowing where 
they were to go. The men only knew that they were marching to battle, and 
some to death. They passed under the very guns of the British ships and 
reached the hillside undiscovered by their enemy. A lovely June night, 
warm and still, was upon them. Across the Charles river now slept the 
unsuspecting foe. Swiftly and carefully they labored to throw up a breast- 
work and build rifle pits on the hill. When the morning came Gage saw a 
long line of intrenchments and armed men behind them, where the day 
before the untrodden grass waved in the summer air. He looked through 
his field glass and saw the tall figure of Colonel Prescott. " Will he fight ? " 
asked the English general. " Yes sir," said a bystander, " to the last drop of 
his blood ! " 

A simple plan of attack was agreed upon. The Continentals could never 
sustain the shock of regular troops, so an attacking column was sent straight 
up the hill to make an assault on the works in front. 

Reinforcements were coming to the Americans ; they were supplied with 
a gill of powder and fifteen balls each. To obtain even this small supply 
the balls were run from the organ-pipes of the Episcopal church at 
Cambridge. At noon the English crossed the river, halted for rations, 
and the men from their earth-works could see and hear them. The 
bright uniforms and glistening bayonets of their foes did not deter them 
from their noble purpose. From church steeple and house top, from all 
the surrounding cities, there were eager spectators watching the event of 
battle. The well trained soldiers of England had no easy task. They 
marched up the hill upon that hot summer's day through the tall grass 
with their heavy knapsacks and equipments, weighing one hundred and 
twenty pounds per man. When they were more than a musket shot 
distant they fired a harmless volley at the patriots. " Aim low," shouted 
Putnam to his men, "and wait till j-ou can see the white of their eyes." 



62 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1782 

Nearer and nearer the solid line of red-coats came up to the breastworks. 
At last the word is given to fire, and the American sharp-shooters made every 
shot tell with deadly effect. The English line recoiled. Once more they 
advanced to the very breastwork to receive a murderous fire from the patri- 
ots, and again sustain a bloody repulse. Now they throw off their knap- 
sacks and great-coats, and come up again to the assault. They are resolute 
this time and will end the fight with the bayonet. The Americans have spent 
their little stock of ammunition and can give the red-coats only a single 
volley. They have no bayonets, and for a little time fight hand to hand 
with their clubbed muskets, but are soon driven out of their works and 
flee to Cambridge under the galling fire of the English ships. The English 
had doubtless won the day, but some things had been gained ; it had been 
demonstrated that American freemen could contend with the disciplined 
soldiers in a fair stand-up fight. Henceforth the success of the Revolution 
was a foregone conclusion. George Washington exclaimed when he heard of 
this battle, " Thank God ! the liberties of the country are safe." 

The loss of the English in this engagement was nearly eleven hundred, 
and of the Americans five hundred, yet as the English obtained the works they 
regarded it as a victory. The Americans who had up to this time taken up 
arms and fought the English troops, had done so without any form of authority, 
and no responsible body or legislature had recognized or employed them. 
They were without a commander, and had no supplies of any kind. Their 
friends at home wove and spun to send them clothing and blankets, and the 
neighboring citizens fed them as best they could. 

The second Continental Congress appointed George Washington of 
Virginia, the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army on the 15th day 
of June, 1775, and shortly after the battle of Bunker Hill, adopted the 
incongruous assembly of men at Cambridge as " the army." Washington 
hastened to join the army before Boston, and assumed command under a 
grand old elm in Cambridge. Their condition was a sad one. They were 
without any ammunition ; only nine rounds for each man in the ranks. They 
could not use their artillery and their rude and irregular fortifications stretched 
for eight or nine miles. The provincials were not soldiers enough to know 
how weak they really were. Any moment the English might break their 
feeble lines and hurl them back in utter confusion. 

Washington saw the peril, but he was powerless. There was an army of 
ten thousand well-trained soldiers in Boston. A noble body of men, but 
fortunately for the Americans led by incompetent generals. Gage quietly 
endured the siege without making a move. Small-pox broke out in his army 
and did fearful havoc. They were poorly supplied by the fleet, and had ta 
destroy the very houses for fuel. 

Gage was recalled by an angry ministry, and quitted Boston in disgrace. 
General Howe was to succeed him. Washington was at times almost in 
despair. His men had enlisted for three months, and they found that a 
soldier's life was a hard one, that even their patriotism could not endure. The 



1775] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 63 

general was a strict disciplinarian and would be obeyed. When January, 1776, 
arrived, he found himself with a new army much reduced in size, and he had 
to begin the weary process of drill and organization over again. He knew 
that Howe was informed of his condition, and he was constantly looking 
out for an attack. In February, Congress sent him a liberal supply of arms 
and ammunition. Ten regiments of militia were added to his little army and 
he began to feel that he could make a move. 

The heights of Dorchester lay to the south of Boston, and if he could 
secure and hold this position he would be able to drive the British out of the 
city. He settled upon the night of the 4th of March for the undertaking. 
He kept the attention of the enemy by a constant discharge of artillery, while 
he sent a strong party of men to Dorchester to throw up a line of works. 
Huge wagons loaded with bales of pressed hay were driven there to form 
breast works for the men, who could not dig rapidly in the frozen ground. 
The men worked with such energy that when morning came they had fashioned 
the bales of hay into redoubts and fortifications of quite a formidable 
appearance. In the morning General Howe peering with his glass through 
the fog, saw the works and said, " The rebels have done more work in one 
night than my whole army would have done in a month." Howe prepared an 
expedition to cross to Dorchester and fight the patriots, but for two days a 
fearful easterly storm raged that scattered his transports, and on the third 
day he saw that the Americans had made the heights ; then he knew that it was 
impossible to capture them. He laid aside his plans of battle and made 
preparations to evacuate the city. Washington might have taken them as 
prisoners of war, but he could not care for them, nor could the Colonies keep 
them until exchanged: so he gave a written promise that he would not hinder 
them in departing from the city. On the 17th of March not a British soldier was 
left in the city of Boston, and five thousand of the joyous Continentals entered 
in triumph. Seven thousand soldiers, four thousand seamen, and fifteen 
hundred families of those who had been loyal to the king, sailed for Halifax. 

General Israel Putnam, with a second detachment of troops, entered the 
city and took possession in the name of tlic Thirteen Colonics. 

Washington had learned that Sir Henry Clinton had sailed from Boston 
with his troops upon a secret expedition early in January, 1776, and 
he naturally supposed that the British general had gone to New York. He 
at once ordered one of his generals, Charles Lee, to go to Connecticut, 
raise troops for the defense of that city, and watch Clinton wherever he 
might attempt to land. Six weeks before the evacuation of Boston, Lee 
had twelve hundred troops in the vicinity of New York, and was on the watch 
for the British. 

But in the mean time the citizens of New York had committed overt acts 
of treason on their own account. They had seized the cannon at Fort 
George, and had driven the royal governor on board of an English ship. In 
March, Clinton arrived with his fleet just outside of Sandy Hook, and the 
same day, Lee, not knowing where the English were, marched into the 



64 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1782 



■city and took possession. Clinton, foiled in this attempt to obtain New 
York, sailed to the southward. Washington had not heard from Lee or 
Clinton, and as soon as he could leave Boston he pressed on to aid Lee and 
find Clinton, also thinking that Howe would sail to New York. He arrived 
about the middle of April, and began fortifying the city and the Hudson 
Highlands fifty miles above. General Charles Lee had been ordered south to 
assume command, and Lord Stirling, an American citizen of New York, who 
espoused the patriot cause, but was of Scotch descent, was left in command. 
Lee was hastening toward the Carolinas, arousing the Whigs, and on the 
lookout for the English General Clinton. 

Clinton had been joined at Cape Fear by an expedition sent out from 
England by Admiral Sir Peter Parker, and the combined fleet appeared off 
Charleston, South Carolina, on the 4th of June, 1776. The patriots in the 
South were aroused and had defeated an army of loyalists under Colonel 
Caswell of over fifteen hundred, early in the spring of that year. When 
Governor Rutledge called for volunteers they rallied all over the State, and 
six thousand well armed men appeared in Charleston to repel the invaders. 
A fort of palmetto logs and sand was erected on Sullivan's Island, and 
twenty-six cannon were mounted, and a garrison of five hundred men 
stationed there under Colonel William Moultrie. The British made a 
combined attack by land and water upon this island, but were repelled after a 
persistent battle of ten hours. Colonel Thompson, with a small force in a 
battery, held the advancing land forces of Clinton at bay, while the fort 
poured its shot and shell into the fleet. At night the crippled and 
discomfited fleet sailed away, and for two years the sound of British guns was 
not heard below the Potomac. The English fleet sailed for New York, June 
31st, 1776, and the victory of the patriots of South Carolina had an inspiring 
effect upon all the colonists throughout the country. 




1775] 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 



65 




THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



FTER these months of fighting tliere were those who 
could not come to think of separation from the home 
government but with pain. Those who were native 
EngHshmen could not but love the land of their birth, 
and many were slow to abandon the proud title of 
British citizens. The Quakers and Moravians were 
opposed to war as sinful, and great numbers thought it 
was useless for a few weak colonies to measure strength against 
the power of England. There was long and anxious discussion. 
The land was flooded with pamphlets and papers setting forth the 
oppression of the home government and the grievances of the 
Colonies. The wisest and best minds of the age were agitating 
the question of a final rupture, because they saw that this was the 
only course. The vast weight of intelligence, learning and 
argument, as well as patriotism, was in favor of this. Among 
these, a man who wielded a powerful pen, and aided the cause with the full 
weight of his influence and talent, was one who has never received the 
full amount of honor due him. He held a conspicuous place among the men 
of his time, and his judgment was considered of importance in the settlement 
of serious questions. We refer to Thomas Paine, the infidel thinker and 
writer. He had been but a few months in the Colonies, but his vigorous 
mind was enlisted on the side of human freedom. He wrote a pamphlet 
entitled Common Sense, in which he took the strong ground that the 
Colonies ought to be free. The Continental Congress was in session, and the 
time was ripe for a decision of this question. On June 7th, 1776, a 
resolution was introduced, " That the United Colonies are and ought to be 
free." Some opposed, some favored. Pennsylvania and Delaware had 
instructed their delegates to oppose it, for the Quakers were loyal to the last. 
Seven states for, and six against this resolution. It was then voted that the 
matter be deferred two or three weeks. 

On the 4th of July, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the 
thirteen States, by the unanimous consent of all the delegates. It was a most 
remarkable document, setting forth the wrongs done to the Colonies, and 
portraying the character of George the King, in the roughest handling he 
ever received, and ending with these wonderful words, " and finally we do 
assert and declare these Colonies to be free and independent States, and that 
as free and independent States they have power to levy war, conclude peace, 
I contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which 
independent States may of right do, and for the support of this declaration 
we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred 
5 



€6 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1/82 



honor." To this immortal bill of rights were appended the names of the 
fifty-six delegates from all the Colonies. 

This document is preserved in the hand writing of Thomas Jefferson, the 
youngest member of the committee, and was published to the world, July 
.4th, with only the name of John Hancock appended, but the other names 
were signed on the 2nd of August, all but two, who affixed their names 
afterward. 

This act of the Congress inspired the patriots with enthusiasm. It was 
read by order of General Washington at the head of each regiment, and by 
the ministers in their pulpits and everywhere in posters and papers from 
Maine to Georgia. The quarrel must now be fought out to the end, and 
result in a glorious victory for freedom, or in a shameful defeat. Everywhere 
it was received with shouts of joy, and the soldiers in New York pulled down 
.a leaden statue of King George and sent it to Litchfield, Connecticut, where 
the governor's wife and family melted it and run it into bullets to kill the 
king's soldiers. General Washington issued orders to his troops, in his 
•customary dignified style, in which he said, " The General hopes and trusts 
that every officer and soldier will endeavor so to live and act as becomes a 
•Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country." 



THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 



UST after the publication of the Declaration, General Howe, 
with Clinton and a large force of troops, made up mainly 
of Hessians hired to fight from some petty German Prince, 
appeared off New York. These Hessians were hired at so 
much per head to fight in any war ; and their employment 
was a scandal to Europe. Frederick the Great did not 
hesitate to express his unmitigated contempt for both 
parties to the bargain and sale. 

The British army was now twenty-five thousand men, and 
Lord Howe had brought with him a commission to pacify the 
Colonies. They were now no longer Colonies but free and 
independent States. So when General Howe invited them to 
lay down their arms, and promised them a free pardon, they 
replied that they were not seeking forgiveness but liberty. 

The sword must be the arbiter now. The British landed 
upon Staten Island, a few miles from New York. With his 
fleet he could hold undisputed possession of the bay, and at his leisure choose 
his point of assault. General Putnam was sent with a body of troops to take 
and hold the heights of Brooklyn which commanded the city of New York. 
Staten Island could be seen from the heights and after a while the English 
were observed moving. They struck their tents, marched on ship board and 
crossed the bay. Putnam marched out of the works to meet the enemy, for 




1775] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 67 

Washington did not hope for a victory, only to do all he could to cripple 
them. The English landed ten thousand men, in three divisions. The left 
division under General Grant, moved along the shore towards Gowanus. The 
right, under Clinton and Cornwallis, toward the interior, and the center, 
composed of Hessians, under De Heister. The right attacked the Americans, 
and others came to help what seemed the main attack, while the remaining 
column of British cut off their retreat, and the center closed in upon them. 
Here they were surrounded, and Howe might have taken them, but he waited 
to make a regular siege. Washington silently withdrew his forces and 
returned to New York. So skillfully was this done that the last boat load 
had left the shore before their retreat was discovered by the English. 
Washington had to leave New York to its fate, and marched northward 
nine miles ; but the English fleet followed him up the Hudson, and he was 
forced to retire to New Jersey. The English again followed him and on 
the way stormed a fort and took three thousand prisoners. 

Lord Stirling had been defeated and taken prisoner. General Sullivan 
had been defeated, and General Washington was fleeing from the victorious 
enemy. It was indeed a dark time for the American cause. Scarcely four 
thousand men were left and they were half clad and dispirited at the 
defeats they had suffered. Thousands of their comrades had been killed, or 
worse than death, were crowded into prison ships to die of neglect and 
starvation. This army of men, without blankets or shoes, poorly armed and 
ill-fed, were a strange band to conquer a continent. Washington was in full 
retreat to Philadelphia, and the British had possession of New York and 
Long Island. Again the English general issued his offers of pardon, and 
many of the rich colonists accepted them to preserve their property. The 
loyalists, who had been silenced by the popular uprising, now became 
clamorous and defiant. The terms of enlistment of the militia were expiring, 
and they were leaving the ranks, and the Continentals were deserting every 
day. Newark, New Brunswick, Trenton and Princeton were occupied by the 
British, and Washington reached the banks of the Delaware river with 
scarcely three thousand men. The citizens laughed at them as they marched 
along the streets, and looked with dread upon the well-fed and clothed 
soldiers who came after them. So near was the vanguard of the advancing 
British, that their drums could be distinctly heard by the rear guard of the 
Continental army. And often the men engaged in destroying bridges behind 
the Americans would see the head of the column of the enemy before they 
had completed their work of destruction. W^ashington knew the desperate 
•odds against him. He had not hoped to overcome the British in the Eastern 
States, but he resolved to do what he could with such an army as his country 
had given him. When he crossed the Delaware he confiscated and took all 
the boats he could find for seventy miles along the river. Lord Howe waited 
on the eastern bank until the river should freeze and he be able to pass over. 
Washington strove to devise a plan by which he should win back success to 
his cause. 



68 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[i;S2 



The defeats which had followed each other so rapidly for four months 
had caused the people to become uneasy and dispirited. The short terms 
of enlistment had been embarrassing to the army, and the increasing activity 
of the tories, as the loyalist colonists were called, all had a disastrous effect. 

The winter of the second year of the war had come, and the British 
general was inactive ; his ofificers and men were enjoying themselves in New 
York, and small detachments were scattered throughout New Jersey. Ten 
miles from Philadelphia was the city of Trenton, held by a considerable force 
of British and Hessians. Washington crossed the Delaware, Christmas, 1776, 
in the intense cold, and made a hurried march to Trenton to surprise the 
careless army there. He succeeded. The general in command was slain, 
and the troops surrendered at discretion. A week after this encounter, three 
regiments of English troops came to Princeton, on their way to retrieve the 
defeat of their companions. While they were resting for the night, 
Washington surprised them and after a sharp fight defeated them with heavy 
loss. These successes, slight as they seem, revived the drooping spirits of 
the patriots and restored the wavering confidence in Washington, which after 
this was unbounded. Congress gave him unlimited military authority for six 
months. They also decided that all enlistments thereafter should be for the 
war. Thus in the time of its deepest peril the infant Republic was rescued 
from its danger by the inconsiderable victories of Trenton and Princeton. 

Thus opened the third year of the struggle with victory and enthusiasm 
for their Commander-in-Chief, but soon the hearts of the colonists were to be 
cheered by the arrival of a new ally to freedom, and a source of strength that 
would be of great aid to them in their contest for liberty and independence. 



THE FRENCH AID TO THE COLONIES. 



NEW force was now to enter into this, which had been 
up to this time an unequal contest. France had 
long cherished a bitterness toward England for the 
loss of her possessions in Canada, caused by the 
defeat at Quebec. She had fondly hoped that 
America would avenge her for this loss by throwing off 
the British yoke. She had more than once despatched 
to the Colonies a secret agent to encourage their good will, and 
since the troubles with the mother country had begun, her secret 
emissaries had been at work among them to offer sympathy and 
give pledges of commercial advantage. It was safe for her to 
foster the growing dislike of England in America, and to stir up 
the Americans to fit out privateers to prey upon British commerce. 
But there was one young man at this time serving in the French 
army, whose professions of friendship for America were not all 
flattery and inspired by hatred of the British. This man was a young French 




^frv 





1775] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 69 

nobleman of immense fortune and strong love of liberty. He was less than 
twenty, and had first heard of the American struggle from the Duke of 
Gloucester, while he was dining with some French officers. That 
conversation, made a radical change in the young man's plans for the future. 
Napoleon said that, " He was a man of no ability," while Marie Antoinette 
said " There is nothing in his head but the United States." He had the 
keenest sympathy with the cause of liberty in which he believed the 
American States to be engaged, and no sooner had he become satisfied of 
this than he was ready to ally himself with the patriot army. He had just 
been married to a beautiful lady whom he left in France, and came to America 
in a ship fitted out at his own expense. He offered his services to the 
Continental Congress in the third year of the war, when the cause seemed to 
be at its lowest ebb. His presence awakened the courage of the whole 
nation, for it was a visible proof that there was help and sympathy for them 
beyond the ocean. America has given this impulsive, generous young man a 
high place in her affection. The Continental Congress gave the zealous 
French youth a commission as Major General, July 31st, 1777, and three days 
afterward he was presented to General Washington at a public dinner. Here 
on August 3rd, two men met for the first time whose names were forever after 
blended in grateful remembrance by a patriotic people, who regard them as 
deserving the highest love of the nation. George Washington the plain 
untutored Virginian planter, and the Marquis de Lafayette, the wealthy 
French nobleman, who had espoused the cause of the feeble Colonies with all 
his heart. Together these men were to play a grand and noble part in the 
Drama of Nations, and like brothers were to stand side by side through the 
darkest days of gloom until victory should crown their united efforts and a 
free people should sound their praises from the lakes to the gulf, and from 
the sea to the great river. The Americans have delighted to do honor to 
the first and most faithful ally to their cause. 




70 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1782 




THE CAMPAIGN OF 1777 AND 1778. 



E have left Washington after his victoiy at Princeton, 
in January, 1777, and the returning enthusiasm of the 
patriots. He was too weak to attempt tlie capture of 
the large amount of British stores at New Brunswicl^, 
and therefore he hurriedly retreated to Morristown, 
where he established winter-quarters. He kept up his 
plan of harassing the enemy until at the opening of 
a British or Hessian soldier was left in New Jersey except 
runswick and Amboy. No general movement was made 
army until the first of June, and Washington remained in 
arters till the last of May. His army was improving 
d numbers, in discipline, spirits and material. A few 
movements had been made in the spring. The British had 
made an expedition up the Hudson and destroyed some stores, 
returning the same night. They had also marched from the Sound 
to Danbury, Connecticut, destroyed the town, fought the militia under 
Generals Wooster, Sullivan and Arnold. The first had been killed, the 
second barely escaped, but Sullivan had discomfited and harassed them all 
the way to the coast and inflicted severe injuries upon them while getting on 
board of their ships at Compo, now Westport, Connecticut. 

May 22nd, Colonel Meigs had crossed the Sound from Guilford 
Connecticut, attacked the English garrison at Sag Harbor, Long Island, 
burned a dozen vessels, destroyed stores, and returned the ne.xt day with 
ninety prisoners. A similar exploit was performed in Rhode Island. A 
party in whale boats rowed across Narraganset bay amid the hostile ships 
and captured the British General Prescott in his bed, July lOth, and he was 
sent under a strong guard to Washington. Colonel Burton led this 
expedition, and afterward received a fine sword, as a testimonial of his 
bravery, from Congress. 

Thus the campaign was opening. Congress sent word to Washington to 
lose no time in totally subduing the enemy ; but he could safely wait and 
abide his time, smiling at the vain confidence which had so quickly taken the 
place of distrust and almost of despair. His army was being recruited every 
day, and the old soldiers whose time had expired were induced to remain by 
patriotic appeals and the promise of bounty. By the middle of June there 
were eight thousand men in the Continental army, tolerably well armed and 
clothed, and under a fair state of discipline. 

The Hessians had committed many depredations in New Jersey, and a 
strong thirst to avenge private wrongs induced many of the citizens of that 
State to enter the service. Howe desired to capture the capital of the States, 
Philadelphia, and advanced his army to do so, but Washington was so 



1775] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 71 

strongly intrenched across his road that he dared not attack. He then 
returned and prepared an expedition to sail to the Chesapeake, leaving New 
Jersey in complete possession of the Americans. 

On the 1 2th of July, General Burgoyne, with a force of seven thousand 
men, had taken Crown Point and Ticonderoga from the Americans, and 
spread terror and devastation through New York and Vermont. General 
Clinton v/as left in command at the city of New York. The force of 
English under General Howe landed at Elkton, Maryland, on August 
25th, and marched toward Philadelphia, and at Brandywine Creek a 
severe battle was fought with the Americans, September nth, in which 
Lafayette was wounded, just forty days after his introduction to Washington. 
The patriots were defeated with a loss of twelve hundred men. The generals 
of that time laid the blame of this defeat upon Lord Stirling, a warrior brave 
but foolish, " aged and a little deaf," v.-ho commanded the right wing. 
Washington had lost the battle, but not by any want of skill or bravery. 

A fortnight afterward the British army entered the city of Philadelphia, 
where so many Tories were waiting to receive them that Benjamin Franklin 
said, " Lord Howe has not taken I'hiladelphia, but Philadelphia has taken 
Lord Howe." The Federal Congress had fled at his approach, and when in 
the bright September morning the British troops marched into Philadelphia, 
there were many citizens eager to receive them with open arms. The British 
were in possession of the long desired prize, the I-'ederal Capital, but they 
could obtain no supplies by sea, on account of two forts on opposite sides of 
the Delaware, a few miles below the city, and on the morning of October 
22nd, they were attacked by a large force of English under Howe. Fort 
Mercer was bravely held by General Christopher Greene of Rhode Island, 
and Fort Miffin by Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Smith, who both made a 
gallant defense and drove the British away. The forts were afterward 
abandoned and the English had possession of the river to the sea. While the 
British were weakened by the large detachment which had gone down the 
Delaware, Washington decided to attack the main force of the enemy, and a 
complete surprise was given them, which at first was successful. But in the 
darkness of night confusion arose among the regiments of the Continental 
army, and some of them mistook each other for enemies, confusion increased 
to a wild panic and they fled in disaster. We must leave Washington 
preparing to go into winter-quarters, and turn northward to see about the army 
of Burgoyne which we left in possession of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 
This English general now set out on an e.xpedition from Canada to subdue 
the northern part of New York. General Schuyler was in command but he 
had only a small force of militia. Tiiesj men wjre of different temper and 
spirit from the citizens of Philadelphia and vicinity, and when they heard of 
the invasion, assembled from all over the country. Each man took down his 
musket from where he had hung it, and hurried away to join the army. They 
were undisciplined but resolute of purpose. The invader made slow progress 
until he found himself at Saratoga. A band was sent to Bennington, Ver- 



72 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1782 

mont, to seize cattle and provisions which were gathered there. Colonel 
John Stark had been commissioned to raise troops in New Hampshire, and 
with his men defeated one party of English, while Colonel Seth Warner met 
and overcame another, August i6th. These victories were like a star of hope 
in the prevailing gloom of the darkness. Burgoyne was in difficulty; he had 
been impeded by the efforts of Schuyler in his march, was in an enemy s 
country without supplies, and found but little help from the tories. It was 
now October and the heavy fall rains made the roads impassable. Provisions 
were getting low and hard to procure. The Indians had been aroused in the 
Mohawk Valley and joined the British. They invested Fort Stanwix with a 
band of tories under Johnson and Butler, and had led Colonel Gransevoort 
with his militia into an ambush, and defeated them, mortally wounding the 
colonel. But the besieged party under their commander, Colonel Millet, 
made a successful sortie and broke the siege. Arnold came up with a body 
of troops to relieve the garrison, and the Indians and their unhappy tory 
friends fled in confusion. 

The British general had little hope of fulfilling his promise to eat his 
Christmas dinner in Albany. He could not remain where he was ; to retreat 
or to advance would be equally disastrous. He crossed the Hudson and 
fortified a camp on the hills and plains of Saratoga. The American army was 
four miles distant at Stillwater. An indecisive battle was fought on the 19th 
of September, both sides claiming the victory. The English fell back to their 
camp. Here Burgo}'ne resolved to wait for reinforcements from General 
Clinton, but after a few days not hearing from Clinton, he made another 
attack upon the Americans and was completely defeated October 7th, 1777. 
His army was becoming enfeebled by frequent desertions of the tories and 
Indians, while that of the patriots was being strengthened by the militia 
which flocked to them, and the Indian warriors of the Six Nations who joined 
them. Ten days after his defeat, when he had only three days' rations in 
camp, he surrendered his whole force to General Gates. They were 
surrounded and had no chance to escape; so closely had the net been drawn, 
that when the last council of war was held by the British officers they were 
within reach of the American muskets. Si.x thousand men laid down their 
arms to mere peasants. Well drilled, armed and clothed, the English 
surrendered to patriots who were ununiformed and fought with powder-horns 
slung across their shoulders, and with muskets that had no bayonets, no two 
of whom were dressed alike. Such humiliation had never befallen the British 
army before. But this uncouth American army behaved with noble spirit 
toward the conquered. General Gates kept his men within their lines that 
they might not see the vanquished lay down their arms. Not a word or look 
of disrespect was given the enemy. " All were mute in astonishment and 
pity." Ticonderoga and Crown Point were given up to the Americans ; they 
had gained a large amount of arms, cannon, and munitions of war. 

England took this defeat very much to heart, and now too late they . 
resolved to redress the wrongs of the Colonies. The patriots were 



1-75] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 



71) 



encouraged, the tories put down, and France was urged to espouse the cause 
of America, all as the effect of this defeat. Parliament abandoned ail claim 
to tax the Colonics, ever}' obnoxious law would be repealed, and all would be 
forgiven if America would return to her allegiance. Commissioners were 
hurried away to bear the olive branch of peace to Congress. But the time 
for peace with England, as Colonies, had passed forever. In a few well chosen 
words Congress declined the offer, and the war went on. America had 
chosen to be free, and proud England, whose armies had been victorious all 
over the world could not tamely abandon her claim and retire defeated before 
the feeble Colonies. The war so far had cost the English twenty thousand 
lives and increased the national debt to an alarming extent. Her ablest 
generals had been defeated by half-clad and half-armed countrymen. Trade 
was languishing, and there was dissatisfaction among the laboring classes. 
Commerce was crippled by American privateers, who attacked English 
merchantmen, and for all this loss what had been gained ? Actually nothing 
but the vain satisfaction of having inflicted untold misery upon an industrious 
and frugal people, carrying sorrow and suffering to thousands of happy 
homes in America. They had caused men to leave their peaceful associations, 
and leave their fields unsown ; their shops silent. The trading classes had 
been impoverished, the fisheries and commerce well nigh annihilated, and 
solid money had disappeared from the country. That was all that England 
had gained ; for the Americans were still determined to gain their 
independence. 

February 4th, 177S, the treaty of alliance between the United States and 
France was signed, and now the Americans were not left to fight the 
powerful British nation single handed. Spain also joined with France and 
from this union the cause of American independence was secured. 

Washington had gone into winter-quarters with his troops at Valley 
Forge, where his poorly-clad and ill-fed armj' shivered in their log cabins, 
while the arm\- of Hov,-e Vv'ere passing their time in lu.xurj' and ease within 
the comfortable homes of Philadelphia. If there is a spot on the broad 
Western Continent where a monument ought to be erected to perpetuate the 
memories of the Revolutionary struggle, it is at Valley Forge. Here 
Washington held his army together without clothing or camp equipage, 
and but little provision, through the long, dark night of that terrible 
winter of 1777-78. The general shared with his men the privations and 
suffering of the winter, and neither lost hope in the justness of their cause, 
or the final issue. And when the fearful ordeal had passed, and the troops 
received the news of the treaty with France in the early spring, shouts and 
cheers shook the air and were heard for miles around. 

This alliance with France gave the Americans great hope and added to 
their zeal. Nor was this all, for the French government began active 
measures at once. A fleet of twelve ships of the line was despatched at once 
to American waters to co-operate with General Washington, under the 
command of Count D'Estaing. The British Ministry ordered General Howe 



74 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1775 



to leave Philadelphia and concentrate his force in New York. Nor did he 
leave that point any too soon, for the French fleet appeared in the Delaware 
Jul)' Sth. But then the British were far on their way to Amboy, beyond the 
reach of the French ships which were too large to cross the bar which 
stretches northward from Sandy Hook toward the narrows. But 
Washington had been watching the movement, and on the morning of 
Sunday, June 28th, had begun a general engagement with the whole Britsh 
force at Monmouth, and won the battle after a severe fight which lasted all 
day. All night he rested on his arms, to renew the attack in the morning, 
but when day came the enemy were not to be seen, having begun their 
retreat at one o'clock in the morning. Washington did not follow, but 
returned to New Brunswick. 

When the French fleet arrived, Washington urged D'Estaing to proceed 
to Rhode Island to drive the British out of that province. General Sulli\an 
was sent to take command of the troops there. John Hancock came with 
the Massachusetts militia. Several English ships reinforced the fleet at New 
York and appeared off Rhode Island the day the Americans landed. The 
French fleet came out to engage the English, but a storm disabled both fleets 
and the Frenchmen sailed for Boston to repair, leaving the land force to meet 
the British unaided. The Americans retreated to the north end of the Island, 
where General Sullivan defeated the British at Quaker Hill, August 2gth, and 
then to avoid being cut off by Howe retired to the main land the ne.Kt da)-. 



THE WYOMING MASSACRE. 



E come to a chapter in the American conflict which 
has no parallel in the scenes of carnage and cruelty 
that stain the pages of histor)'. A tragedy that 
found no apologists in the nation in whose interests 
it was enacted. There were in all the provinces 
numbers of persons who still sympathized with the 
English, some were born in England and loved the 
land of their birth better than the young Republic of the West, some 
- i^-yr>v." were shocked by the fratricidal war and dreaded its consequences ; 
*-vM^'y.. some were conscientious loyalists who thought the patriots were 
guilty of treason ; some were renegades who had private grievances 
to settle, and some were bribed by offers of British possessions and 
gold. All of them, from the peaceful Quaker and Moravian who 
would rather suffer than fight, to the lawless assassin who would kill 
for pay, were termed tories. We have spoken of two, Johnson and 
Butler. The latter, Colonel John Butler, was in command of a 
body of tories from Niagara, and he came southward inciting the Indians to 
arise against the settlers. They gathered at Tioga early in June, 1778, and 




ijSj] the war of independence. 75 

by the 1st of July mustered eleven hundred whites and Indians, the latter 
from the head waters of the Susquehanna. They entered the beautiful 
Wyoming Valley the 2nd of July. This was a part of the State of 
Pennsylvania. The strong men were mostly in the distant army on duty ; 
the aged men with the women and children and a very few trained soldiers 
were ail that were left in this defenceless valley. Colonel Zebulon Butler, a 
native of Connecticut, who had been in the early Indian and French wars, 
with a small force of four hundred men marched up the valley to drive the 
tory Butler and his Indians back. They were met by the savage foe and 
after a fearful conflict were most of them killed or taken prisoners July 4th, 
1778. A few of them made their escape to Forty Fort where the families of 
the settlers were gathered for shelter and defence. The invaders swept like a 
storm cloud down the valley and surrounded the fort, where contrary to 
expectation they offered humane terms of surrender. They returned to their 
homes in fancied security, but the Indians could not be held in restraint, and 
plundered and burned, slaughtered and butchered on every hand. They 
scattered in every direction at sunset and when the darkness of night settled 
upon the scene twenty burning houses sent up their lurid flames to the sky. 
The cry of women and children went up from every field and house, and 
many who fled to the Wilkesbarre mountains and the black morasses of the 
Pocono, perished from exposure and starvation. That dark region between 
the valley and the Delaware is very appropriately termed the Shades of 
Death. Thus was enacted the most shameful crime committed among the 
many that disgraced the action of the English during the war. Joseph Brant, 
a Mohawk Indian, who had adhered to the English, had gone with war parties 
south of the Mohawk River, and joined, with their allies, Johnson, the tory 
leader, and together they attacked the settlement of Cherry Valley, killed 
many of the people, and carried the rest into captivity. Such was the alarm 
in all that region that for months no eye was closed in security. The 
country for a hundred miles around was called the dark and bloody ground. 
The record of that one county in New York, — Tryon County, it is now 
called, — for four years, would fill a large volume. To such severe straights 
had the British government come in their contest with a united people 
fighting for their freedom. The Americans had a great account to settle 
with the tories who had already been the cause of much bloodshed and 
misery and were always a source of strength and information to the British. 




76 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1775 




THE WAR IN 1779-1780. 



'^ 



HE Continental army had gained much in the former 
campaign although the spring of 1779 opened with the 
forces in the same relative position as the spring before. 
But the American army was in better condition and 
material than ever previous. France was in active 
sympathy with the States, and they were learning how 
to conduct naval operations and the art of civil government. 
The power of the British in the States north of the Potomac 
was becoming weak and the field of conflict was to be 
changed to the sparsely settled South. The French fleet had 
sailed to the West Indies to attack the English possessions 
there, and this drew away a part of the English force with 
some of their ships. Altogether the conditions of the conflict 
were bright for the side of America. The chief embar- 
rassment was the fact of a large issue of scrip of the 
government in the place of money, and its large depreciation 
in value. This Continental currency had neither the binding force of a 
promise to pay in gold or silver, nor the pledge of public credit. In the 
spring of 1779, Washington, in conference with a committee of Congress, 
matured a plan of campaign for the year. He was to act on the defensive so 
far as the English were concerned, and on the ofTensive in dealing with the 
Indians and tories. The British troops were to be confined to the sea 
coast and the Indians and their unholy allies were to be severely punished 
wherever a blow could be struck. The English had already sailed to the 
South and subjugated the whole State of Georgia, making their head-quarters 
in the capital, which they held until nearly the close of the war, even after 
the rest of the State had been recovered. The patriots of Georgia and South 
Carolina contended with the invaders bravely and punished them at many 
points, but were overcome by superior numbers. They were kept out of 
Charleston and obliged to retire to Georgia, where General Prevost came up 
from Florida to join the English and assume command of the forces. 

In the North the British were sending out marauding parties to harass 
the citizens along the sea coast. Such an expedition under General Tryon 
came to Greenwich, Connecticut, to attack General Putnam. The Americans 
were dispersed but rallied at Stamford and drove the invaders back, 
recaptured a part of their plunder, and harassed them all the way back to 
New York. An expedition under command of Sir George Collier sailed up 
Hampton Roads into the Elizabeth River, and laid the country waste on both 
sides from the Roads to Norfolk and Portsmouth. The last part of the same 
month two forts on the Hudson were captured by the same fleet, Stony Point 
and Verplanck's Point. These exploits ended. General Tryon went to New 



i;S2] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 71 

Haven, Connecticut, and burned that city, also East Haven, Fairfield and 
Norwalk, and boasted of his extreme clemency in leaving a single house 
standing on the coast. The Americans were not idle all this time, but were 
making" ready to strike heavy and unexpected blows at different pomts. 
Three^days after the burning of Norwalk the Fort at Stony Point was 
captured by Colonel Anthony Wayne, who secretly attacked it on the night 
of July 15th, 1779, with ball and bayonet, and captured it after a strong 
resistance. This was one of the most brilliant exploits of the war. Another 
brilliant achievement followed this, the capture of a British force at Jersey 
City by General Henry Lee, August 19th, but the joy which these events 
occasioned was changed to sorrow by disaster in the extreme East. 
Massachusetts fitted out an expedition of forty vessels to sail to the 
Penobscot and take a fort held by the British at Castine. The commander 
delayed to storm the place for two weeks after his arrival, and an English fleet 
appeared, destroyed the vessels and captured the sailors and soldiers, all but 
a few who made their way back to Boston through the trackless wilderness. 

The settlers of the territories beyond the Alleghanies, who had been 
accustomed to fight the Indians from their first coming into the wilderness, 
were fearless and bold, and now they turned their attention to the British 
outposts to fight the whites. Colonel George Rogers Clarke (who finally 
broke the power of the Indians incited by the tories and English) led an 
expedition into the far wilderness of the northwest territory, where Illinois 
and Indiana now are, and took the fort at Kaskaskia, and the strong post at 
Vincennes. This had happened in 1778. But the British from Detroit 
retook the post in January, 1779. Acting as a peace-maker, Clarke agam 
penetrated a hundred miles beyond the Ohio river, to quiet the Indians m 
the Northwest. He came through the drowned lands of Illinois in the month 
of February, and came upon the fort at Vincennes like men who had dropped 
from the clouds. On the 20th of February, the stars and stripes floated once 

more over the fort. 

The indignation of the people was thoroughly aroused by the massacre of 
the Wyoming, and General Sullivan was sent to the very heart of the region 
held by the Six Nations to chastise and humble them. On the last day of 
July he marched up the Susquehanna and joined the forces of General James 
Clinton, a patriot soldier, in August, making an army of nearly five thousand 
men. On the 29th of August they fell upon a fortified band of Indians and 
tories and dispersed them. Without waiting for them to rally, he went on 
dealing severe blows and chastising the savages on every hand. The Indians 
were awed and spirit-broken for a while. The campaign in the South had 
closed with the unsuccessful attempt of the Americans to capture Savannah. 
The French fleet was withdrawn, and General Lincoln was in full retreat 
toward Charleston. Thus closed the campaign for 1779 with discour- 
agement for the Americans, as nothing of importance had been accomplished 
in the South. In the North the British were driven out of Rhode Island by 
the fear of a French fleet. Lafayette had gone to France and induced the 



78 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1775 

government to send a larger fleet and six thousand troops to America. Sir 
Henry Clinton sailed for South Carolina in December, 1779, and Washington 
went to winter quarters. While at best there was no perceptible gain on 
the land, the American sailors were achieving wonderful success from their 
bravery and audacity. John Paul Jones had dared to attack the strongest 
ships in the English navy, and had followed them into the very chops of the 
British channel. The Scrapis and the Countess of Scarborough had struck 
their colors to the Bonliomine Richard, the ship commanded by Jones, and 
he had taken in all, during the year, prizes to the amount of two hundred 
thousand dollars. The English had gained nothing in America, and had a 
great weight of trouble in other parts of the world. Spain had declared war 
with England, and the hands of the English were full. 

The campaign of K780 in the South was a source of disasters to the 
Americans, resulting in the loss of Charleston, the whole State of South 
Carolina, the destruction of two armies, and the scattering of a good band 
of independent rangers. Lincoln and his army surrendered at Charles- 
ton after a gallant defense of forty days. Thus the British took at one 
time between five and six thousand men, and four hundred pieces of 
artillery. 

Colonel Tarleton, a name which is held in contempt by all honest men, 
and which comes down the pages of history as the synonym of the meanest' 
treachery, surrounded a band of patriots, who were retreating from 
Charleston toward North Carolina, with a force twice the size of the 
Americans, and almost annihilated them, killing men after they had 
surrendered and while they asked for quarter. It was a cold-blooded 
massacre, denounced by the liberal press of England in the most scathing 
terms. 

General Gates and Baron De Kalb were defeated at Sanders' Creek after 
a sanguinary encounter in which they were completely overcome, and Baron 
De Kalb was slain. The flower of the American army was now destroyed, and 
the hearts of the patriots were beating with anxiety. 

General Gates had ordered General Sumter to command a detachment to 
intercept a detachment of British and take their supplies. But when he 
heard of the defeat of General Gates, Sumter fortified his camp at the 
mouth of the Fishney Creek. Tarleton, the atrocious general, fell upon him 
and scattered his band. Sumter escaped, but his power was broken. 

But while these misfortunes were spreading a pall of darkness over the 
American cause, a man hitherto unknown was waging a warfare on his own 
account upon the tories, and hanging upon the flanks of the British army, 
dealing heavy blows to injure and cripple them. He was Marion, the 
partisan leader of South Carolina who had collected a band of Southern 
patriots after the fall of Charleston. He had been with the army in that 
city, but at the time of the surrender was at home with a wound, so he was 
not hampered by any parole. He came to General Gates just before the 
disastrous battle of Camden with a few ragged fellows, more grotesque than 



1-8,] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 79 

the soldiers of Falstaff. The general was inclined to ridicule them, but 
Goven or Rutledge, who was present, knew the sterling quaht.es of the man, 
^.d m de him a b^-igadier on the spot. The people of WUhamsburg arose ,n 
arms and sent for him to command them. He went and organized h.s 
wrd^-ful brigade which defied the Brhish power after the disaster at 

"^'"Connvallis organized the State of South Carolina as a royal provir.ce as 
mmtar^• governorrbut he was so merciless, vindictive and se hsh that even 
hose who were friendly to the British fell away from him, and on the 7th of 
October a band of patriots fell upon the army, which he was leading into the 
Sorth State, at Ki.rgs Mountain, two miles south of the ^-te hne, and ot^^^^^^^^^ 
defeated them. This gave the republicans renewed hope. On the seaboa.d 
mIhoiVs men were doing wonders in driving back the British and redeeming 
the country. Cornwallis fell back to Wainsborough and fortified Heie he 
remained until he went in pursuit of Greene a few weeks later ^ ictory af er 
victory, crowned the efforts of Marion and his men, but he had confined 1 
operadons thus far to forages upon the enemy. Now - included to try 
s ren-th in an open assault upon the British post at Georgeto^^n. The 
partisan warrior was repulsed but not disheartened. He had a camp on 
Ws Island in the Pedee country, and would sally forth so suddenly and 
attack the British unawares at so many and widely separated points in such a 
m rvelously short time, that they became thoroughly a armed and 
determined to break up his rendezvous. This was not accomplished until the 
s, i o of 1 78 1, when a band of tones led the way to his camp m the swamp 
while\e was away, took the few whom Marion had left there and destroyed 
his supplies. The hero, when he returned, was surprised, but ot 
dihear ned, and at once started in pursuit of the marauder, and after 
following him, suddenly turned and confronted the British colonel, Watson, 
who came up with fresh troops. 

But now we will turn to the North for a little whde In June 1,80 
Clinton had made an invasion into New Jersey, burned Elizabeth and 
Co necticut Farms, and had been driven back to Staten Island a ter a severe 
def at at Springfield, June 33. The French fleet under Count de Rocham- 
beau had landed in Rhode Island with six thousand land troops, July 10, 
X780. Lafayette had arranged the whole affair during l-/-'! ^" F'-;-' 
and to prevent any conflict of authority, as in the case o D Esta.ng. the 
French had commissioned Washington a Lieutenant General m their arm>. 
Rochambeau first met Washington in Hartford, and his men were sent to 
encamp in Lebanon, Connecticut, as the season had too far advanced for 
them to be of service in the campaign this season. 



8o 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1 775 





have seen, and held a high command in the 
army. He was impulsive, vindictive and 



THE FIRST AND ONLY TRAITOR. 

OW we come to a sad chapter with which we wish 
to wind up the record of the j'ear 1780. At different 
times during the war the British officers had attempted, 
directly or indirectly, to tamper with Americans of 
W-^i/^ high rank whom they thought were of easy virtue, but 
^^^ not till the very last of the war had they found a 
*'ii'^ single one to listen to their advances. Now they 
J |;'T;*C;%jj^ approached one whose personal ambition had led him to 
<~5gjKi|s|'/^ aspire to supersede his commander-in-chief, but he had failed in 
'^''■'F;tLl§' '•he attempt. Benedict Arnold, of Connecticut, the arch traitor 
'j ; S'.'.i'-^ and the man whose name would go down to posterity covered 
^|i '';•:',:? with execration to future generations, was a brave man, but 
^^ ■ . thoroughly bad. He had fought nobly at the outbreak of the 

war, as we 
Continental 
unscrupulous, and always in some sort of a quarrel with his fellow- 
generals ; unpopular with his command. When he was appointed 
to the command of Philadelphia, after being wounded at Bemis' 
Heights, he married the daughter of a provincial tory, and lived in splendor 
far beyond his means. To meet the exactions of his creditors, he resorted to 
a great many fraudulent practices, which caused him to be reported to the 
Continental Congress. He was convicted and severely reprimanded by a 
court marshal appointed to try the case. Washington bestowed this 
reprimand, and Arnold, smarting under the disgrace, and pressed by the load 
of debt, fell into the grievous crime of betraying the command at \\'est 
Point. He was regarded with suspicion, but Washington did not think him 
capable of treason. The price of his perfidy was to be a major general's 
commission in the English army and fifty thousand dollars. Major John 
Andre was sent by Sir Henry Clinton to complete the negotiations which had 
been going on for months. West Point was a fortified position on the 
Hudson, deemed of great importance to both parties, and was strongly 
garrisoned by the Americans. The plans were, that Clinton was to sail up 
the Hudson, attack the Fort, and after a show of resistance, Arnold \\'as to 
surrender all the arms and men to him. But the final arrangements must be 
made by a personal conference, and Andre was sent for this purpose. He 
was taken up the Hudson on board of a British vessel, the Vulture, — rightly 
named — and landed ; but all did not work well, for some patriots dragged an 
old six-pounder out upon Tellers' Point, and hammered away with it until the 
Vulture was compelled to land Andre and drop down the river. He then 
proceeded on foot as far as Tarrytown, when he was stopped by three young 
Americans, searched, and sent to the nearest military post, then in command 
of Colonel Jackson. The colonel unwisely allowed the prisoner to send a 



1782] 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 



8i 



letter to Arnold, although he could not see why ; and then the double-dyed 
traitor abandoned the unfortunate Andre, and escaped in his own boat to the 
Vulture Andre was more to be pitied than blamed, but found m the vile 
condition of an enemy taken in disguise, he was tried as a spy, found guilty 
and hanged, while the real miscreant escaped. Washington did his best to 
save the brave young officer, but the stern rules of war would not permit him 
to save one engaged in such an act. There were dark intimations of other 
treasons and it would not do to pass this lightly by. Andre begged to die a 
soldier's death, but this was denied him. and he was executed on the second 
day of October, 1780. The double traitor, Arnold, whose life was not to be 
compared with that of Andre, lived and enjoyed the price of his treason. 

And thus the campaign of the sixth year closed with a dark plot for the 
betrayal of the cause of the American States by one of its own officers. 

THE CLOSING YE.\RS OF THE STRUGGLE. 



HE events of the year 1781 opened with one of the 

noblest displays of true patriotism in the army. For 

the long years of the struggle the soldiers had endured 

every privation and suffering from the want of money 

and clothing. The scrip in which they had been paid 

depreciated in value until it was almost worthless. 

Faction and discontent had come into the Continental 

Congress and prevented needed action upon important 

measures. The soldiers had enlisted for three years, or during 

the war, and this they regarded as meaning for three years if the 

war did not sooner end, but the officers interpreted it for the 

, - entire war, even if it lasted longer than three years. The 

j \r. soldiers asked for aid, which was not given them. On the 




.•^'|,lwJ,;;3o^first day of January, thirteen hundred of the Pennsylvania line 
?'^S<' > ^vho regarded their term of enlistment as having expired, 
S<>VaX marched out of their camp at Morristown and determined to 
^^'f^ return to Philadelphia in a body and demand their rights of 
Congress. General Anthony Wayne, who was much beloved by his command, 
tried" by threats and promises to dissuade them, but they would not be 
persuaded. The poor fellows thought, rightly enough, that they had a 
righteous cause of grievance. General Wayne stood before them and cocked 
his pistol, but they presented bayonets to his breast and said, " We love and 
respect you ; you have often led us to battle, but we are no longer under 
vour command ; be on your guard. If you fire your pistol we will put you 
to instant death." Wayne appealed to their patriotism, and they pointed to 
the impositions and unfulfilled promises of the Congress. He told them of 
the comfort and aid their conduct would give the enemy, and they pointed to 
their tattered garments and poorly-fed bodies, but said that they were willing 
6 



82 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1775 

to fight for freedom for it was dear to their hearts, but Congress must make 
adequate provision for their comfort and necessities, and declared that they 
were determined to go to Philadelphia to enforce their rights. Wayne went 
with them, and when at Princeton they halted and drew up a written 
programme of their demands. This was forwarded to Congress and resulted 
in a compliance with their just demands. Tb.c Pennsylvania line was 
disbanded, but when Sir Henry Clinton endeavored to treat with them and 
sent emissaries to promise them all their back pay, one of the leaders said, 
" See, comrades, he takes us for traitors, let us show him that the American 
army can furnish but one Arnold, and that America has no truer friends than 
we." They seized the emissaries and their papers and sent them to Wajme, 
who executed them as spies. When the reward was offered to the insurgents 
they refused to touch it and sent back word : '' Necessity compelled us to 
demand our rights of Congress, but we desire no reward for doing our duty 
to our bleeding country." Many of them re-enlisted for the war. On the 
18th of January the New Jersey troops, emboldened by this success, also 
mutinied, but the mutiny was put down by harsher means. Congress was 
aroused to action, and devised means for the relief of the soldiers. Taxes 
were imposed and cheerfully paid, money was loaned on the credit of the 
government, a national bank was established, and Robert Morris, who had 
given his wealth to the country and aided in establishing the national credit, 
was the president. He supplied the army with food and clothing bought on 
his own credit, and doubtless prevented it from disbanding by its own act. 
All honor to Robert Morris, who, though not a soldier, was a patriot and the 
soldiers' friend. 

The military operations of the year were confined to the South, and 
opened with a series of depredations committed by the arch traitor, Arnold, 
who seemed over anxious to inflict all the misery he could upon liis suffering 
country, and earn the price of innocent blood with which his treason had 
been rewarded. He made two expeditions up the James river, destroying 
public and private property at Richmond and Petersburg, and although the 
Americans did their utmost to capture him, he was too cautious, watchful and 
(juick for them, and after plundering and slaughtering the people on every 
hand, returned with the English fleet to the New England coast, where an 
inhuman butchery, equalled only by the massacre of the Wyoming Valle\-, 
was enacted under his command, of which we will speak hereafter. 

General Greene was appointed to supersede General Gates in command 
of the American forces in the South. The battle of Cowpens was fought 
January 17th, 1781, and resulted in a brilliant victory for the Americans. 
Then followed the most remarkable military movement in the war, the retreat 
of General Greene through North Carolina to Virginia, who was not strong 
enough to cope with the whole British army, but on the 15th of March, 
finding his force much increased in strength, he fought the battle of Guilford, 
and although the Americans were repulsed and the British were in possession 
of the field. Charles To.x, in a speech in the House of Commons, declared 



17S2] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 83 

■' Another such victory will ruin the British army." A line in the Scotch 
ballad was fully illustrated : 

" They baith did fight, they baith did beat, they baith did rin awa'." 

Cornwallis could not maintain the ground he had gained, and the 
Americans retreated in good order. Greene rallied his forces and pursued the 
British to Deep River, Chatham county. April 25th the American army was 
surprised and defeated at Hobkirk's Hill, but Greene conducted his retreat in 
good order. The British commander, Rawdon, set fire to Camden and 
retreated May loth. Within a week Greene captured four important posts, 
but was unsuccessful at Fort Ninety-Six from which he retired June 19th. 
Successes at other points were being reported. Fort Galpin and the city of 
Augusta, Georgia, had been taken by the Americans under Charles Lee. 
Now the British were retreating and the Americans were the pursuers. 

The battle of Eutaw Springs, September 8th, resulted in a victory for 
Greene. The partisan bands under Marion and Sumter were winning 
victories on the Santcc waters. The French army left New England to come 
southward to the aid of Lafayette, and Washington succeeded in avoiding 
the watchfulness of General Clinton in New York, and crossed the Hudson 
into New Jersey, and was well on his way before Clinton was aware of his 
real intention. Arnold was sent to New England by the British to draw 
Washington back. Then followed the bloody and inhuman butchery of the 
garrison at Fort Griswold, opposite New London, in which nearh' one hundred 
men were murdered in cold blood by the orders of the traitor. Cornwallis was 
fortifying his army at Yorktown. Clinton sent a fleet to aid him, but he was 
too late, for when the British ships came to the mouth of the Chesapeake the}' 
found the French fleet there, under De Grasse, to oppose their advance. The 
combined American and French forces under Washington and Lafayette were 
investing the whole British force under Cornwallis. A desperate defense was 
made and repeated sallies were attempted to drive the assailants from their 
works, but all without success. The end was approaching. In a few days 
the defenses at Yorktown were laid in ruins by the armies of Washington and 
his compeer. The English guns v.-ere put to silence. One night Cornwallis 
attempted to break the lines and get his men back to New York, but was 
prevented by the obstinate fire of the besiegers, and barely escaped to his 
intrenchments. All hope was over, and eight weeks after the siege began 
Cornwallis and his army of eight thousand men capitulated to the American 
commander-in-chief. 

Cornwallis felt the keenness of his humiliation and feigned sickness on 
the day of his surrender, and therefore sent his sword by an inferior officer. 
General Lincoln, who had before surrendered to Cornwallis under the most 
humiliating terms at Charleston, S. C, was detailed to receive the formal 
surrender. When the sword was handed to him he took it and at once 
returned it to the fallen English general. The war w;is virtually over, a little 
skirmishing was going on in Georg'.a and South Carolina, but all was rejoicing 
and gladness. 



84 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1775 

Old King George was stubborn, but his Parliament would not sustain 
him, and although a treaty of peace was not signed until 1783, there was but 
little movement in America among the English, while the Americans were 
constantly on the watch. Savannah was evacuated July nth, 1782. The 
last blood was shed in September, 1782. Measures were taken by the 
American Congress and the British government to effect terms of peace. 
Peace was made with France and Spain. The Americans had become 
exhausted by the long struggle of eight j-ears, and could show little more 
than their soil and their liberty in return for it all. Their commerce was 
dead ; their fields ruined ; their towns and cities in ashes ; and they had no 
money. The public debt had swelled to one hundred and seventy millions of 
dollars, and there was nothing which could be called a government. Five 
commissioners were appointed to meet the English commission in Paris, and 
effect a settlement. John Adams, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas 
Jefferson and Henry Lawrence were the five chosen. A preliminary treaty 
was signed November 30th, J782, but the final treaty was not signed till 
September 3d, 1783. That treaty gave full independence to the thirteen 
United States of America, with ample territory to the great lakes on the 
North and westward to the Mississippi river, with unlimited rights to fish on 
the banks of Newfoundland. The two Floridas were returned to Spain. 

There is one little episode prior to this time which we desire to mention : 
After the surrender of Cornwallis on the 19th of October, 1781, and before 
peace was declared, everything seemed to be in a perfect state of confusion. 
The thirteen States were loosely held together. Congress had but little 
power. There was no money to pay either officers or men, and they had 
been fighting for no pay. The army would become disbanded. They had 
fought bravely, heroically, and, as patriots, had won the victor}'. Now they 
must find a livelihood amid the desolations which had been wrought by the 
fearful struggle. The gloomy aspect threw a pall over all classes. Congress 
voted to retire the officers on half pay for life, and the soldiers must shirk for 
themselves, but this was afterwards changed to full pay for five years, and the 
soldiers to full pay for four months, in part pay for their losses. Great 
dissatisfaction arose all over the country. Many attributed the trouble to the 
weakness of a Republican form of government, and desired a monarchy. 
Nicola, a foreign officer in a Pennsylvania regiment, in a well-written letter, 
advocated the claims of a monarchy, and proposed that the army make 
George Washington king, but he was sharply rebuked for this by Washington, 
and it was never afterwards broached. 

The United States was now a nation recognized by England, France, 
Spain and Holland. But the feeble compact of the Continental Congress 
could not long hold them together. Each State might or might not comply 
with its demand, as she saw fit. That power could onl}' discuss and advise. 
No taxes could be collected by their authority ; they could only apportion 
certain amounts for the States to raise or not, as they chose, and most 
frequently they did not choose, and it became utterly impossible to raise 



GAY'S CHRONOLOGICAL CHARTS OF J^ 



The name of each author, the dates of his birth and death, as far as could be ascjnaine.l. ihc uiic >i iiu work by which he 

Poets and NoveUsts ; the second, the writers on History, Gco^^rai^iiy. ^.i<i u.ajr .aa..t,wi"i of cx^ct J. 

is often celebrated in various departments of knowledge. His name 



1612—1778. 

IMAGINATION. 

1612— 1672 Amic Hradstreet, TJie Tenth Muse. 
1737-1791 Frances Hopklnsoii, The Battle 0/ the 

Kegs. 
55— 1812 Joel Barlow, Columbia. Poems. 



FACT. 



Sam. Senrall, Description of Netv Haven. 
AVilliaiU Steplieil^, [ournah in Georgia. 
Ezra S(ile»^, Sftilemtut of Bristol. 
Geo. WasllillgtOll, Farewell Address. 
J. E. Worcester, Dictionary. 
Jiio. Adams, Canon on Feudal Lato. 
Patrick Henry, Orations and Speeches. 
Beii.t'.iiEiiii West {Fainter), Li/e. 
William Bartram, Travels and Obs, 
Josiali Quincy, Jr., Boston Fort Bill. 
liiiidley Murray, English Grammar. 
Benjamin Rusll, /diseases of the Mind. 
Tlieopliilus Parsons, Comm.on Lazv. 
Gouveneur Morris, Lazu and Practice. 
Natlian Dane, Ordinance o/i-j^-j. 
Jolin Jay, Federalist. 
Jolin liCdyard, Traziels in Africa. 
Hannah Adams, Hist, of New Eng. 
Alexander Hamilton, Federalist. 

Noall Webster, Dictionary. 
William Rawie, On Constitution of U.S. 
JnmcN K.ent, Comm. nn Laiv. 
Theodore I>n'i«:lit, Life of Jefferson. 
Edw'^d Livingston, Fenal Laitr. 
James Gould, Pleading in Civil Action. 
AVm. W^irt, Life of Patrick Henry. 
A. T, Thomson, Medical Depository. 



SPECULATIVE AND SCIENTIFIC. 

1 70.*— 1776 Jotham Parsons, ^''Si.vt^- Sermons,'' etc. 
6—1790 Ben.). Franklin, Electricity : Philos. 
29—1824 Chas. Tonison, Four Evangelists. 
30— 1807 Samuel West, Liberty and Necessity. 
35—1819 Stephen "IVest, On Moral Agency. 
37— i7Sg SamM H, Parsons, .Antiquities of the 

61 — 1S36 James Madison, .-Indent and Modern 

Confcderncici* 
64—1845 Henry Ware, Evidences of Christianity. 
71—1858 Kobl. Oivon, AVtc i'ir'ivs of Society. 
72—1825 ArcJiibaltl Alexander, Evidences of 

' ''ir,il Science. 
75—1836 Lyinaii iSee^'-laer, news on T/wolog}'. 



1 


652-I730 




71— >7S3 


1 


7*7—1795 




32-1799 




34— 1866 




35—1826 




36-1793 




38— 1820 




39—1823 




44—1775 




■45—1826 


i 


—1813 


^ 


50—1811 


'^- 


o2-i8i6 




—1835 




54—1829 




S5— 1789 




—1832 




67-1804 




68— 1S43 




59-1856 




63—1847 




64-1846 




—1836 




70-1838 




72-1834 




78-1849 



1779—1793. 



1 7 79— 1843 Frances S. Key, Star Spangled Banner. 

— 1843 W. Allstoil, Elijah in tlie Desert. 
83 — 1S59 '%Va!!ihiii<i;tou \r'%vs\^^ Sketch Book. 
85—1842 S. AVoodwortll, T'-e Old Oaken Bucket. 
87 — 1879 Kioll'tl Ily. Italia, Buccaneer. 

-1858 l^liza Leslie, W \'oi,.ig Lady s Vicissitudes 
89— 1S41 Jiis. A. Hillll»us«, The Judgment. 

— 1S65 Hailliail V, Gould, The Mother's 
I'r^ai,,. 

— i8i;i Jas. Fell, Cooper, Sea Stories. 
90-1867 Fitz-(irec'[i Halleck, "Marco Baz- 



91- 

92- 



93 



-1865 Mrs. I>. H. Si^ourney, .Moral Pieces. 
1852 Jno. Howard Payne, "Home, Sweet 

Home.'' 
■ — Jno. Neal, K'eep Cool, Brother Jonathan. 



1 779—1845 Jos. story. Commentaries on the Conslilu- 
tittn. 
—i860 Jas. K. Paulding, Bulls and Jonathans. 
80— 1840 Xiniuthy Flint, Hist. 0/ Western States. 
—1859 RicJiardRush, Legal Works. 
—1865 Hannalt F. liCe, Luther and His Times. 
82—1852 Daniel Webster, Dart. College Address; 
Reply to Haytie. 

—1858 Tlios. H. Benton, Thirty Years in U. 

S. Senate. 

—1862 Clias. J. Ingersoll, War 0/ 1812. 

83— 185S Bennett Tyler, ///j/. ,)/Ar, £.,• Thrology. 
84—1851 Nathaniel B, Tucker, Constitutional 

La'M. 

86—1867 Liucius M, ^ViT^Kn.%, Li/e 0/ Dexter. 
89—1866 Jared Sparkes, Writings 0/ Gee. Wask- 
inglon. 

—1873 Rlcll'd S. Storrs, Li/e o/Sam'l Green. 

—1855 Win. V. Bedfield, Theory 0/ Storms. 

93 — 1861 Sain'l G. Goodrich, History and Travel. 
Ily. C. (ZaLreji Pdtitical £conoiny. 



I78O-1S70 NathunloJ WiniS, Theological Articles. 
83—1827 Ediv'd Payson, iheological Works. 

—1850 Jno. t'. Calhoun, Treatise on the Na- 
ture 0/ Concernment. 
84—1869 William Allen, Junius Unmasked : 
Christian .Sonnets. 

88—1852 Francis Burkninn, The Offering 0/ 

Su/ferin -. 
91-1871 Geo. Tlcknor, History 0/ Spanish Lit- 
erature. 
—1858 Sani'l Gilman, Pleasures 0/ Student 

Li/e. 
—1875 Clias. Spraffue, Ode 0/ Speculation. 
93—1879 tly. <'. Care}", Political Economy. 



Designed for Gay's Standard Histories, by "WXLXIAM GA"! 



lERICAN AUTHORS AND LITERATURE. 



It kn;)wn. Tiic n^raes are arranged under ihree heaai : Iinas,'ination ; Fjc-l ; Speculative an J Scien-.iiic. The lirsl includes the 
the tnirJ, tuoo-- >vho treat of Philosophy and Science. This division cannot be perfect, for an author 
tere be founa in tiie division which includes his best known productions. 



1794-1802. 



1794- 



Caroltne Gilman, Oracle from the 

—1878 IVm. t'ulloil Bryant, " Thanatopsis." 
95—1820 Jos. K. Drake, I m- Aiuerican flag. 

—1856 Jas. «. Perflval, 1 he Mind : Other 

Poems. 

—1870 Jiio. p. Keiiuedy, //urseShoe Koihison. 
—1868 Uaillel p. Xlloiupsoil, The Green 
Muuiiliun Hoi^. [Other Poems. 

—1845 Mrs. Maria G. Brooks, Esther, and 
96—1828 Jiio. G. C. Braluard, Poems and Son- 
nets. 
97—1852 Wm. Ware, .Imrlian and Julian. 

99 Catlivriiic M. Sedgwick, i<idi:cwood 

1800— 1856 t'arolilio L. ElciltZ, '/'he Moorish Bride. 
:4— 1864 Geo. i*. Morris, Woodman , Spare that 
Tree. . 



1794—1875 Nathan Sargent, Li/e 0/ Clay: Public 

.Men and E-'ents. 
%a—i%-!b Wni. B. Sprague, Li/e of Timothy 
Divigltt. 
—1865 Joshua R. Giddlugs, The Rebellion : 

its .-/ lltlior.< and I anses. 

96—1859 Wni. H. Preseott, Ilist.ofU. S. 

—1856 Zadoe Xhoiupsoil, Hist. 0/ I'ermont. 
—1866 Thco. DwlgUt, Li/e 0/ Garibaldi. 

97 Thpophllus Parsons, Law 0/ Con- 

traitt. 

98—1868 ^Vaddy Thompson, Recollections 0/ 

.Ve.rno. 
99—1832 Rob't r. Sands, Li/e 0/ Paul Jones. 

1800 Geo. Bancroft, ///i/.o/Mc U. S. 

1—1872 IVilliam H. Seward, Li/e 0/ J. Q. 

Adanrs. 
—1876 Sani'IG. Hoive, Greek Rerolution. 
— 1872 Clias. A. LiCe, Dictionary 0/ Medicine. 
2— 1881 Geo. Ripley, .Appleton's Cyclopiedia. 
Jno. C. Redpath, Hist, o/the U. S. 



1794-1865 Edw'd Everett, Orations and Speeches. 

— 1864 Natlianiel West, 'The Ark o/God. 

— 1843 Hy. AVare, Jr., Li/e 0/ Our Saviour. 

— 1S44 James Marsh, S/>irit 0/ I/ebrrrv Poetry. 
90 -135. Horace Mann, Slavery; Letters: 

.s/.,, ,•,•.. 
—1859 Geo. Blisll, Xe-i' Church Repository ; Li/e 
0/ Moh<inn>-'d. 
97 — 1843 llll:;ll S. Le^-aree, Essays on Roman 
Literature. 

1800 Daniel D. Whedon, Outh,- Will : Coui- 

n:cntuy o'l tlte.\eiv 'Testa uicut . 

— 1871 Rob'1 J, B8re<*keiibrid;xe, Popism in 

the L'nitc, s/ ./ ,. 
1 — 1864 Mrs. C M. Kirkland, Home lieauiy : 

Holidar.i A /-road. 
—1877 Rob't Dale Owen, 'The Debatable Land. 
Geo, p. Marsh, .Van and Nature. 



180S-7. 



1803 



Wni. J. TBtoiUS, Lays and Legettds. 

ITIaria J. HDrlnlosli, .l///«7 Cray, 

4—1864 Nalliailict as. .\\\\\%>\'\\f^-^ Scar l,-t Letter, 
6—18^3 KlIlElia <■, \a v.i'WV^^i oustiuuf Latimer. 

AVai. G. ^.ikL(>ik.<», 1 ..I' ll'/^ifum and the 

Cal'in. 

C'liaH. F", ISoHniaii, Craysiaer, 

Jii<>. G, \%'liiltii'r, I'oices of Freedom^ 

7— iSd^ Hy. W, I<4>ll»lello\V, lliaivntka. 

VJt'O, S. l^'ay, 1 he Voitnti-ns Ida. 

JJ<Ks. <■. Noal, Charcoal Shfichcs. 

<'oi at'lisiNCoMWay Follon, On Liter-- 
ui.trf a/id A rt ; Poets and Poetry of Europe. 



aS 



1 803 JUO. G. iTIorris, Exposition of the Gospels, 

— 18S2 RalE>li Waldo Eiuerson, The Conduct 

0/ Life. 
4— 1852 Will. L.I'(>J<E Garrison, Orations and 
SpeeJi..s. 
— 187^ Isaac B^', ICedlield, /.^-j^w/ Works. 
5—1877 J. S. 1'. Atii.v.EI, Li/e 0/ Nap.; Hist, of 
Russia. 
— 1852 Juo. \i, StepSioiis, Incidents 0/ Traveis, 

6 Stepliois Aloisiiider, Soiar Eclipse: 

Clusters/ stars. 

7— 1871 Samuel EI. Taylor, Classical Study: 

Mt-nfon s.'/' h'cT. /■:. L. larker, 
—1865 RioU'd Bllltlrctll, Theory of Legislati&K. 
^1873 IjOUIS A^aissiZ, Researches on J-. .i 

Fishes. 




1801— 1877 Asa ». Sniitli, The Christian Minis..-y. 
— — B'iliz. <>. Slllilll, M'oman and Her Needs. 

— 1870 ICit-ll. Fllll(*r, Haf'tixm and Communion. 

— i8iu JaN. \V, Alexander, Thoughts on 

{•v.. '.I. . 
6— 1878 NellCllliali A<liilllS, ('// ///<■ L'nitariati 

ia,i . ■■ .'' oj :,i,n:-7-y. 



CHART XI 



BIRTHS, 
A.D. 1612 1S07. 



AUTHORS AND LITERATURE. 



Co.. 256 Chapal St., Nfiw TTairt-n , Conn. COPYRIGHT 1883. 



1782] THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 85 

money by this method. The hardships and miseries of the people fell with a 
severe burden upon the laborers. The sufTerings of a patient people could 
not endure everything, and their impatience showed itself in mutterings of 
discontent. A band of two thousand men in Massachusetts arose in revolt 
and demanded that the collection of taxes should cease for a time. It was 
some time before this insurrection could be put down. Four or five years of 
intense privation and suffering followed the Revolution ; and surrounded with 
the troubles of a misgoverned people, it almost seemed as if the war, after 
all, had been a failure. 

There had been dark days during the war, when men's hearts failed them 
and they lost confidence in Washington. Reverses and disasters came 
thick and fast, and he was retreating far too much. He adhered to a 
defensive policy when Congress was demanding quick and decisive blows to 
curb the invader. The people did not consider the utter insufficiency of his 
resources, but laid the blame of every reverse upon him. But when the tide 
of battle had turned, and Washington, with his well disciplined army, was 
moving on the offensive, and victory brought glory to him, they feared that 
he would become too powerful, and, like other conquerors, assume kingly 
prerogatives. His army loved him with a fervor that amounted almost to 
idolatry, and he had but to speak the word and they would rise to hail him 
king. The country feared that he might prove another example of a 
successful military chieftain, who would be actuated by the lawless and vulgar 
lust of power which has disgraced the pages of history. But when the war 
was over, Washington sheathed his sword and resigned his commission. He 
had refused to receive pay for his services, and rendered to Congress a bill of 
his actual expenses, kept with neatness and precision, fo' the whole period 
from the time he assumed command to the close of the war. He then 
retired to cultivate the affection of men, and to practice the domestic 
virtues. He attended to his farm, and was thankful to escape the burden of 
responsibility which official position must bring. This exhibition of noble 
grandeur in its wonderful simplicity, endeared him forever to the hearts of the 
American people. Mount Vernon was to become the shrine to which the 
feet of patriots would turn, and where the measure of American devotion 
would be full. George Washington had won the proudest place in the hearts 
of his countrymen. The family of generals who composed his staff and his 
immediate companions loved him as a brother, and the common soldier 
regarded him as much more than an ordinary being, and his presence would 
inspire them with intense enthusiasm. The great mass of the people all 
over the country hailed him as the deliverer of his country, and esteemed, 
him above all glorious names of those who had won the independence of the 
country. Washington and Lafayette were the two names that blended in all 
the public addresses and orations of the period, and rested alike upon the lips 
of the rich and poor. 



IV. 





ASHINGTON and the leading minds of this period 
saw the great need of modifying or changing the 
articles of confederation which had held the thirteen 
States so loosely together. Congress was only a 
name, and the league held the States only for a 
moment ; it might be sundered by any one or more 
of them at will. The lovers of their country could 
discover at a glance that there was imperative need of a central 
government which should exercise power over all, and be respected 
by all. In the absence of such a government, the liberties of the 
people would be constantly in danger from internal dissension 
within and foreign foes without. Some one might rise with the 
power to make himself king. Conspicuous among those who 
shared this view with Washington, was a New York man who had 
entered the army at nineteen, and had been the friend and 
companion of Washington through all the war, Alexander 
Hamilton. He had risen to high rank in command, and afterward to high 
position in office. He had brought order from the utter financial chaos 
which threatened the very existence of the army and country. It was he 
who first proposed the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED States. He 
was the firm friend and staunch ally of Washington all through the 
troublous times that tried the very life of the infant nation. Hamilton was a 
brave and skillful soldier, a brilliant debater, a persuasive writer and a true 
statesman. 

At the suggestion of Washington, a convention to remedy the defects of 
t"he articles of confederation was called to assemble at Annapolis, Maryland, 
in September, 1786; only five States sent delegates. John Dickinson was 
appointed chairman. They did little except to appoint a committee to revise 
the articles, and adjourn with a recommendation to Congress to call the 
meeting of a convention in Philadelphia the following May, to complete the 
work. Congress recommended the several States to send delegates to such a 
convention. The convention met with delegates from all the States except 
New Hampshire and Rhode Island, but they had not gone far before they 
found that no amount of amending and tinkering could make the old 
" Articles of Confederation " serve the purpose of a permanent government. 
For a number of days there was no progress. Such was the great variety 
and difference in opinion that everything was at a standstill. Franklin urged 
the necessity of imploring Divine assistance in a memorable speech. " How 



1/87] THE COXSTITUTIOXAL PERIOD. 87 

has it happened, sir," he said, " that while groping so long in the dark, divided 
in our opinions, and now ready to separate without accomplishing the great 
object of our meeting, that we have hitlierto not once thought of humbly- 
applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings? In the 
beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we 
had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were 
heard and graciously answered. * * * ji^g longer I live, the more 
convincing proofs I see of the truth that God governs in the affairs of men. 
I therefore move that henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven 
and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning 
before we proceed to business." It was adopted. After long and earnest 
discussion the convention referred all papers to a committee of detail, and 
adjourned for ten days. They reassembled and the committee reported a 
rough draft of the present constitution. Amendments were made, long and 
angry discussion followed, and the whole matter was referred to a committee 
for final revision. This final report was made September iJth, 1787, and the 
Constitution was submitted to the Legislatures of the several States for 
adoption. The convention had worked for four months, and was composed 
of the ablest and best men in the country. George Washington was the 
president ; Benjamin Franklin brought the ripe experience of eighty-two 
years to this crowning task of a noble life. Alexander Hamilton came from 
New York. And with such men came many whose names are held in 
enduring honor by a grateful people. These men were the peers of any in 
the country, and this assembly had not seen its equal since the convention 
which published the " Declaration of Independence " had met in the same 
hall eleven years before. Their great work had gone, out to the country, and 
the people were divided in sentiment upon it. There were many true 
patriots and lovers of their country who were opposed to it. They were 
strong in their argument, and conscientious in their opposition. Some feared 
the most those evils which would arise from a weak government, and sought 
relief from this in a close union of the States under a strong central 
government, and some feared the example of the over-governed nations of 
Europe and hesitated to give too much power to the central government for 
fear that a despotism might arise. State sovereignty, sectional interests, and 
radical democracy, all had their advocates, and were united only in opposing 
the ratification. Hamilton wrote pamphlets and articles for the public press 
in its favor. Washington threw the whole weight of his influence in its favor. 
Thomas Payne sent out his powerful argument in the " Crisis," and the 
excitement ran high. Somewhat reluctantly, and in many cases by bare 
majorities, the States all ratified it. and it became the organic law of the 
land. At once, ten amendments were proposed and accepted, to meet the 
views of those who were apprehensive of too much power in the central 
government, and a trial of its powers for nearly a century has demonstrated 
the wisdom of those men who devised it, and asked the blessing of God upon 
their deliberations. 



88 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1787 

This constitution is the supreme law of the land. Under its authority 
the President, the Congress, the judiciary act, and all the laws passed, must 
be in conformity to it. Congress may pass an act unanimously and the 
President heartily sign it, but if the Supreme Court decide that it is contrary 
to the Constitution, it has no binding force as law, and can never be executed. 
The great love of law which predominates in the Anglo-Saxon race has 
caused a reverence for this document which rouses the nation to arms when 
once it is assailed. 

When eleven States had ratified this Constitution, the Continental 
Congress took measures to carry it out, and fixed the time for choosing the 
electors of President and Vice President. They provided for an organization 
of the new form of government, and a transfer of their power. On the 
fourth day of March the National Constitution became the supreme law 
of the land, and the Continental Congress passed out of existence. This was 
the commencement of the glorious career of the United States as a nation. 

One thing we should mention before passing to the Administration of the 
first President. The old Congress had organized a territorial government for 
the vast region northwest of the Ohio river. In the bill in which this was 
done there were many important provisions. It contained a provision 
striking at the old English law of primogeniture, in which estates descended 
to the eldest born, and instead this law divided the property among all the 
children, or the next of kin. It also declared that " there shall neither be 
slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory, otherwise than in 
punishment for crime whereof the party shall be duly convicted." This was 
adopted July 13th, 1787, and at once a mighty tide of immigration began to 
flow into that fertile region, amounting to twenty thousand in one year, 
1788. 




1789] 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 



89 




THE ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. 



HEN the vote of electors was opened by Congress it 
was found that George Washington had been unani- 
mously elected for President, and John Adams for 
Vice President of the United States. 

There was much work to be done to get the new 
machine of government into working order. The 
first serious question was what to do with the public 
Washington was perplexed, and with a sigh asked a friend, 
: is to be done about this heavy debt ? " " There is but one 
1 America can tell you," replied his friend, " and that is 
Alexander Hamilton." The subject of the tariff was brought forward 
by James Madison, the acknowledged leader of the House of 
Representatives, two days after the vote of President and Vice 
President had been counted. He proposed a tax on tonnage and a 
duty on foreign goods brought into the United States, that were 
favorable to American shipping. Then three executive departments 
were organized, namely, of the Treasury, of War, and of Foreign Affairs, at the 
head of each was a secretary. These were to be appointed by the President 
with the concurrence of the Senate, and should form his advisory council, and 
report in writing when required. Alexander Hamilton was appointed 
Secretary of the Treasury. He was the most able financier of the Revolution, 
and made those remarkable reports which for twenty years formed the policy 
of the national government. He proposed the funding of all the public debt, 
registered and unregistered ; the payment of the interest ; the redemption of 
the Continental money, and the assumption of the State debts. The 
government certificates and Continental money had depreciated from their 
face value, and were held by speculators who had bought them at a low price, 
and some thought that the government ought not to pay full price for them, 
but Hamilton wisely claimed that the public credit was concerned in its full 
redemption. All these outstanding debts were to be funded, and interest 
paid at six per cent, until the government should be able to pay the principal. 
A sinking fund was formd by appropriating the receipts of post offices, and it 
was prophesied that in five years the United States could borrow money in 
Europe at five per cent. A system of revenue from imports and internal 
duties was devised by Hamilton, and all his proposed measures were adopted 
by Congress at their second session. 

While the House was at work on the revenues, the Senate were engaged 
on the problem of the judiciary. Senator Ellsworth of Connecticut, proposed 
a measure which was adopted with some changes. Webster afterwards said 
of Hamilton, in his eloquent style, " He smote the rock of natural resources 



90 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1789 

and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse 
of the public credit and it sprang upon its feet." The vigor of a government, 
so unhke the old Congress, renewed the public confidence, and commerce 
began at once to improve. Ships were built, and in a few years the new flag 
was floating on every sea and in every port. The people at home were 
recovering from their poverty imposed by the war. Agriculture and 
manufactures were prosperous, and a steady stream of immigration from the 
coast westward was opening up the wonderful resources of the regions 
beyond the Alleghanies and Ohio river. North Carolina and Rhode Island, 
the only two States which had not adopted the Constitution, now came into 
the Union, the first, November, 1789, and the latter May 29, 1790. The third 
session of the first Congress met in December, 1790, and found all 
departments of government in good condition, ample revenue coming in, 
and general prosperity on all sides. During this session, the first of a long 
list of States which should come in to swell the original thirteen was 
admitted. Vermont came into the Union February i8th, 1791, and the 
territory southwest of the Ohio was formed. A national currency was 
established. The question of a national coinage of money was decided at the 
first session of the second Congress, and a mint established at Philadelphia. 
The post office department was organized at this session, but the Postmaster 
General was not made a cabinet officer until 1829. Most of the first term of 
Washington as President was taken up in getting the government into 
working order, but such was the moderation, wisdom, and patriotism of these 
grand men who performed this gigantic but novel w^ork, in which they had no 
model to guide them, that but few changes have had to be made, and none of 
these few were in any degree radical. 

There had been some disturbance with the Indians in the northwest, 
incited by emissaries from the British, who still held some of the posts on the 
frontier, contrary' to the provisions of the treaty of Paris. Open hostilities 
began in 1790, and General St. Clair, the governor of the Territory, with two 
thousand troops, was surprised and defeated in Drake county, Ohio, 
November 4, 1791, but General Anthony Wayne was sent to take command 
and punish the savages, which he did so effectually that they caused little 
trouble until the war of 1812-15. Kentucky was admitted to the Union 
June 1st, 1792. 

Party spirit assumed definite form during the second session of the 
Second Congress, just as the first term of Washington was coming to an end. 
Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were the two men around whom 
the organizations began to cr}-stallize. They were both members of 
Washington's cabinet. Hamilton became the leader of the Federalists and 
Jefferson of the Republicans. The Federalists believed in a strong central 
government, and would concentrate the power of the national government, 
while the Republicans would distribute the power among the States. 
Hence arose the strife between the two, and the country was being stirred by 
bitter discussion, and in the heart of this excitement the second election came 



I797J THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 91 

on. Washington and Adams were re-elected by large majorities. The 
Republicans were gaining in numbers and strength, and when the French 
Republic had declared war against England, Spain and Holland, Genet came 
from France to procure aid and sympathy from America. The Republicans 
and many Federalists received him with open arms, and he began to fit out 
privateers to fight England and Spain. Washington prudently issued a 
proclamation of neutrality, May 9th, 1793, but Genet insisted, and tried to 
excite hostility between our people and their own government. Washington 
finally requested his government to recall him, which they did, and the 
French assured the United States that their government disapproved of the 
course Genet had taken. 

The first insurrection against the government arose in Pennsylvania, and 
is called the " Whisky Rebellion." It was caused by Congress imposing an 
excise duty on domestic liquors. This measure was very unpopular, and 
awakened opposition. The insurrection broke out in the western part of 
Pennsylvania and spread over all that portion of the State, and into Virginia. 
At one time six or seven thousand men were under arms. The local militia 
were powerless, or in sympathy with the rebels. Washington issued two 
proclamations to them to disperse, but seeing that they would not disband 
by peaceful means, he ordered out a large body of militia from New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, under command of General Henry Lee, 
which quelled the rebellion, and thus the trouble that had threatened the 
stability of the nation was averted. 

Another dark cloud arose above the horizon. England and America 
accused each other of infringing upon the terms of the treaty of 1783. The 
United States claimed that the British had not indemnified them for negroes 
carried away at the close of the war. That English posts on the frontier 
were maintained contrary to treaty. They had been inciting the Indians to 
hostility, and in the war with France the neutrality of our ships had been 
violated. The British claimed that the United States had not done as they 
agreed concerning the property of loyalists, and the debts contracted in 
England prior to the Revolution. War seemed inevitable, and was only 
averted by the prudence and wisdom of Washington, who sent John Jay as 
envoy extraordinary to England to compromise and settle. He effected the 
best arrangement he could by which the British might collect all debts actually 
due them before the war, but they would not pay for the slaves taken away. 
The British would pay for unlawful seizure in the war with France, and 
evacuate the forts on the frontier. This was not satisfactory to most of the 
people, but congress ratified it on the 24th of June, 1795. Soon after John 
Jay proved his patriotism by concluding a treaty with Spain by which the 
United States gained the free use of the Mississippi River and the port of New 
Orleans, for ten years. Through the whole of Washington's administration, 
the greatest prudence, circumspection and wisdom were needed. No sooner 
had one difficulty been surmounted than another appeared. The infant 
commerce which was spreading all over the world, was attacked by the 



92 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1797 



Algerian pirates, who captured large numbers of American sailors, and held 
them in white slavery in the Barbary States, until their ransom was paid. 
This gave rise to efforts to establish a navy. After many attempts had been 
made, Congress finally in the spring of 1794, passed a law creating a navy 
and appropriating seven hundred thousand dollars to build and equip vessels. 
In the absence of the proposed navy, the United States in common with 
other governments entered into a treaty to pay the Dey of Algiers an annual 
tribute for the ransom of captives taken by his pirates. 

Washington's administration, which was drawing to a close, had been one 
of incessant care and action. The two parties that had arisen during his 
administration were ready to enter the political contest when Washington 
issued his famous Farewell Address. After retiring from ofifice he lived for 
three years at his home in Mount Vernon, and died December i8th, 1799. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN ADAMS. 

'HE two parties had but little time to engage in the 
contest for the election of a successor to Washington 
after the publication of his Farewell Address in 
September, for the election came in November. The 
contest was sharp and earnest, and resulted in a victory 
for both sides. John Adams was elected President, 
and Thomas Jefferson, Vice President. They were 
inaugurated March 4th, 1797, and were confronted at the very 
outset of their administration by a threatened war with France. 
The French Directory which had the management of govern- 
ment at the time, had ordered Pinckney, the American minister, 
to leave the country ; depredations were committed upon 
American commerce and the French minister had insulted the 
United States. Adams took very decided and active measures 
to redress the wrong. He sent three ministers to France to 
settle the difificulty with Pinckney at their head. The French 
would not treat with them, and the Americans made ready for 
war. The navy was finished and ships put in commission. A large land 
force was collected and equipped, and there was a naval battle in which the 
French man-of-war was conquered. But there had been no formal declaration 
of war, and the French Republic, seeing the strong position of the United 
States, receded and made overtures of settlement. Three envoys were sent 
and conferred with Napoleon, and concluded a treaty of friendship and peace. 
The ambassadors returned to America, and the army was disbanded. 

Two very unpopular measures were passed by the administration known 
as the Alien and Sedition laws, which they were obliged to repeal the next 
year. 

The death of Washington in the last month of the century was a sad 




iSoi] 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 



93 



bereavement to the country, and every party voice was hushed in silence 
while the nation did honor to his memory. Napoleon, then First Consul 
of France, rendered universal honor to his memory in a General Order to his 
army in which he said, " Washington is dead ! This great man fought against 
tyranny ; he established the liberties of his country. His memory will always 
be dear to the French people as it will be to all free men of the two worlds ; 
and especially to French soldiers, who like him and the American soldiers, 
have combated for liberty and equality." 

The Congress of the United States, and the Legislatures of all the States 
united with the whole people all over the land in paying the highest tribute 
to his memory. 

In the year 1800 the second enumeration of the population was taken, 
and the census reported 5,319,762, an increase in ten years of thirty per cent. 

There came another election in which party spirit ran high. The 
Democratic party nominated Thomas Jefferson for President and Aaron Burr, 
Vice President, and the Federalists John Adams and C. C. Pinckncy. There 
was no election in the electoral college, and it was sent to the House of 
Representatives. After a severe struggle in which thirty-five ballots were 
taken, Mr. Jefferson was elected President, Aaron Burr was chosen Vice 
President, by the Senate. 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

jfj^jf^HE inauguration address of Mr. Jefferson was waited for 
' ' y/* with much anxiety by the people throughout the 
country, as he was the first exponent of the new party 
who had been raised to the chief magistracy of the land. 
He surprised all classes by the manly and conservative 
views which he uttered, and at once all fears were 
allayed. Although he made some removals from office 
and set vigorously at work to reform abuses and irregularities, 
his measures were so conciliatory and just that many Federalists 
came over to his party and heartily supported his adminis- 
tration. The obnoxious laws were repealed. The diplomatic 
system was put on better footing, the judiciary was revised, 
fr) certain offices were abolished, and vigor and enlightened views 

'i' marked the beginning of his term. One State and two 
f • \'-.'/ •' 
y.,. ivi":,!.-' territories were added to the Union in his first term of office. 

^j^r\^ Ohio was admitted in the fall of 1802, and the territories of 

^, ^ Louisiana and New Orleans were purchased of France for 

fifteen million dollars. This bargain was effected in April, 1803, and the 

United States took peaceful occupation of the land in the autumn of the 

same year. It contained eighty-five thousand mixed population and forty 

thousand negroes. 

A naval expedition was sent out to the Mediterranean to put an end to 




94 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [iSoi 

the infamous tribute extorted from the United States, to redeem the 
American sailors held in slavery by the Barbary States. 

Captain Bainbridge had gone to Algiers in 1800 with the tribute money, 
and when it was paid the Dey demanded the use of his ship to carry an 
ambassador to Constantinople ; and, when Bainbridge refused, the Dey 
replied, " You pay me tribute, by which you become my slaves, and therefore 
I have a right to order you as I think proper." Although the captain was 
obliged to comply with that demand, the insult resulted in a severe 
punishment, which a few years later put an end to white slavery in the 
Barbary States. It is hard for us to realize that even in the nineteenth 
century our countrj'men have been held in great numbers in the most 
degrading slavery in the north of Africa. The merchantmen who displayed 
the American flag made their appearance in the Mediterranean directly after 
the Revolution. The pirates of the Barbarj' States would attack them, and 
when captured would sell them into slavery. There were thousands of sailors 
from New England and the Atlantic coast thus held when the century began. 
The indignation of the United States was aroused, and they determined to 
put an end to the infamy, which the government of Europe had long 
tolerated at their very doors. In 1803 Commodore Preble was sent to humble 
the pirates. After bringing Morocco to terms, he came to Tripoli. There he 
had the misfortune to lose a large vessel, the Philadelphia, which struck upon 
a rock, and before she could be got off she was captured. The officers were 
treated as prisoners of war, but the crew were sold into slaver>\ The next 
year, 1804, this disaster was somewhat repaired. Lieutenant Decatur with 
seventy-six volunteers, entered the harbor of Tripoli and boarded the 
Philadelphia, drove off her captors, and setting fire to her, made their escape 
without losing a man. This gallant act received ample acknowledgment 
from the Navy and the home government. 

In the first term of Mr. Jefferson the first exploration to the Pacific 
was organized, and sent out under the command of Captains Lewis and 
Clarke. They left the Mississippi the 14th of May, 1804. 

Mr. Jefferson was re-elected for a second term, but Mr. Burr, who had 
displeased the Democratic party, was not nominated by them, and George 
Clinton was elected Vice President. Burr, in anger, and feeling that he had 
lost the confidence of the people, resolved to cause a revolt in the regions 
southwest of the Mississippi. He had murdered Alexander Hamilton in a 
duel July 12, 1804, and was generally abhorred by all classes. The attempt of 
Burr against the Government failed. There were indications of a war with 
Spain, but it was providentially averted. The United States were continually 
irritated by the British claim to a right to search American vessels and take 
away any suspected deserters from their army or navy. An act of partial 
non-intercourse with England took effect November, 1806. 

In 1807, the first steamboat was built by Robert Fulton, and the 
application of steam to navigation became a fact. The ominous war cloud 
that threatened the country grew heavy and dark. France and England 



8oi] THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 95 

vere at war, and they both were inflicting injury and insult upon our young 
.'ut thriving commerce. England still seizt.'d and searched American vessels, 
5sued orders and decrees against commerce, proclaimed blockades on paper, 
■nd was crippling the marine interests of the United States, in order to 
prevent them from reaping any benefit from the French carrying trade. 
Napoleon retaliated with like orders, decrees, and paper blockades, and between 
ihe upper and nether millstones of these two powers the commerce of 
America was being ground to pieces. The crisis came. Four seamen of the 
United States man-of-war, Clicsapcake, were claimed as deserters from the 
British ship, Melampus, and Commodore Barron of the Chesapeake refused to 
give them up. A little while after the Chesapeake was unexpectedly attacked 
by two English vessels, and was obliged to surrender the men. This aroused 
the nation, and Jefferson issued a proclamation in July, 1807, that all British 
ships should leave American waters. Great Britain continued in her unjust 
course, and a general embargo was placed upon all shipping, detaining all 
American and English vessels in any of the ports of the United States, and 
ordering all American vessels in other ports to return home, that their seamen 
might be trained for war. This embargo was the cause of great distress, and 
put American patriotism and firmness to a severe test. This measure failed 
to accomplish the desired result, and was repealed three days before Jefferson 
retired from the office which he had held for eight years, and at the same 
time Congress passed a law forbidding any commercial intercourse with 
France and England so long as their unjust orders and edicts were in force. 
James Madison was elected President, and George Clinton, Vice President for 
the next four years. 




g6 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1809 




THE ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 

sHERE was no man in the unprejudiced judgment of the 
people of all classes better fitted to administer the 
government in this period of gloom and doubt than 
James Madison, who had been the Secretary of State 
under Jefferson. He made no change in his policy, 
and pressed the claims of the United States for a redress 
of grievances upon both England and France. The 
latter acceded to the rights of America, but still continued to 
deal in a covert and underhanded way, while England, in a 
more honorable but wicked way, persisted in her right to 
impress and search. There was an important question at 
issue between the United States and the foreign governments. 
It was the right of changing allegiance from one country to 
another. England held that a man born under her flag was 
forever an English subject, and although he might settle in 
any part of the world, he could claim the privileges of a 
British subject, and was bound by the obligation of citizenship 
to render service to the English f^ag. America on the other hand, claimed 
that a man had the right to choose the place of his citizenship, and could 
renounce his allegiance to the land of his birth, and become a citizen of any 
country he should choose to settle in. The Englishmen who had settled in 
America were regarded as American citizens and nothing else. She would 
defend the rights of her adopted sons, and maintain her position to all the 
nations of the world. 

England had a system of obtaining seamen for her navy by impressment ; 
that is, she would take men who were engaged in the merchant service and 
compel them to serve on her men-of-war. This was a species of slavery, and 
the men thus obtained would embrace the first opportunity to desert. These 
desertions became frequent, and the natural refuge in America was in most 
instances sought, and the protection of its flag obtained. Now it was very 
hard to distinguish between an English and an American sailor, and when the 
American ships were searched the English were not very exact as to 
nationality, provided they got a first class sailor. Thus things went on until 
181 1, when the British sloop of war. Little Belt, was met off the Virginia 
coast by the American frigate, President, and was obliged to pull down her 
flag, after a severe fight, 

This same year an Indian revolt broke out which was evidently the 
result of English intrigue. All the frontier tribes were engaged in it, under 
a crafty, intrepid and unscrupulous chief, Tecumseh. It was suppressed by 
General William H. Harrison, who thus became the hero of Tippecanoe, in a 
severe engagement which routed the whole Indian force. The nation was 
now ready for war. England had an immense navy of nine hundred vessels 
with one hundred and forty-four thousand men, while America had twelve 



i8i7] THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 97 

vessels, which mustered about three hundred guns. It seemed the wildest 
folly to cope with " the mistress of the seas " at such a fearful odds, but the 
rallying cry, " FREE TRADE AND SailoRS' RIGHTS " was taken up from 
the Lakes to the Gulf, and war was formally declared June 19, 181 2. The 
people of the West and North were no less enthusiastic than on the seaboard. 
The only region where the Federalists, or peace party, was predominant 
was in New England. Congress at once voted an appropriation of fifteen 
million dollars for the army, and three millions for the navy, and authorized 
the President to enlist twenty-five thousand regulars and fifty thousand 
volunteers for the army, and call out one hundred thousand militia for the 
defense of the coast. 

THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, 

as this contest was rightly named, now began. Benjamin Franklin had before 
this said to a friend who had called the Revolution the war of independence, 
" Not the war of independence, but the war for independence." And now 
the second act of the grand drama was to be presented to the world. There 
had been all along a suspicion that England had not relinquished her hope to 
regain the colonies she had lost. The constant intrigues with the Indians, 
the subtle arts of diplomacy, and her heavy armament in Canada pointed to 
this. The American nation was watchful and jealous, and now the whole 
force of her power was thrown to settle the question of nationality forever. 
Four days after the declaration of war, England had repealed her blockading 
decree, and there remained only the question of the right of search and 
expatriation. The British minister at Washington offered to peaceably settle 
the question at difference, but his proposition was rejected. 

The first attempts in the war were signal failures. General Hull was sent 
to Canada with an army of invasion, but no sooner was he on Canada soil 
than he was obliged to surrender. He was put on trial before a court 
martial, on his return to the States, found guilty, and sentenced to be shot. 
But he had been a brave officer in the Revolution, and for his past services 
he was pardoned. His reputation was afterward vindicated, and the cloud 
removed from his fair name, but he retired to private life. The war had been 
long threatening, and in this time Canada was fortifying her strong points 
and preparing for a threatened invasion. The able generals of the Revolution 
were now either all dead, or too old for active service ; and the army was either 
under the command of men who had been inferior officers in their youth and 
were now old men, or of men who had seen but little service except with the 
Indians. A second invasion under Colonel Van Renssellaer was equally 
unsuccessful. The whole army of the Northwest had surrendered, and 
nothing was gained at that point. But on the sea, the American sailor had 
dared to measure strength with the British, and had been remarkably 
successful in every engagement during the first year of the war. In spite of 
the tremendous odds in the navies of the two countries, the American was 

7 



98 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [i8i3 

gaining victory after victory. The British ship, Gucrricrc, had been taken 
by the frigate, Constitution, August 19, 1812. The Frolic had struck the 
English flag to the little Wasp October i8th. The Macedonian surrendered to 
the United States October 25th, and the Java to the Constitution December 
29th, all in the same year. This rekindled the national spirit, and made up 
for the defeat on the land. The country was justly elated by these successes, 
and sustained the administration by re-electing Mr. Madison to a second term. 

The second year of the war, and the first of Mr. Madison's second term, 
was signalized by a series of important victories by the Americans in Canada ; 
and the naval victory of Commodore Perry, on Lake Erie, by which the 
United States became masters of the Great Lakes. These were cheering to 
the Americans. At sea, England was doing her best to retrieve the severe 
blows she had received the year previous, and regain her injured prestige as 
" Monarch of the Seas." The loss she had met the autumn before, of five 
ships, was a heavy blow to her pride, and her statesmen regarded this 
humiliation as greater than the loss of so many battles. No other country, 
before this, had produced sailors equal to hers. Now she had met her first 
disasters from an inferior, and strenuous effort must be made to undo this 
disgrace. The British nation and navy felt this, and put forth their best 
endeavors to show their superiority. Two English ships came to Boston in 
the summer of 1813, and Captain Broke sent a challenge to Captain 
Lawrence to come out and " try the fortunes of their respective flags." The 
English captain sent one of his ships away, and with the Shannon waited for 
the Chesapeake to come out. Captain Lawrence accepted the challenge, ano 
went to his death. The fight lasted only fifteen minutes, but in that time the 
Chesapeake was dismantled, her commander killed, and her flag struck to the 
proud ensign of Britain. This was June 1st, 1813. This same Captain 
Lawrence, who exclaimed, " Don't give up the ship ! " with his latest breath, 
had in February before, taken the English frigate. Peacock, with the sloop 
Hornet. In August another disaster befell the American navy. It was the 
loss of the Argtis, which had taken Mr. Crawford, the minister, to France, 
across the ocean, which was obliged to surrender to the Pelican. The tide of 
victory now turned, and the English ship Boxer struck her flag to the 
Enterprise, September 5th. The complete naval victory of Commodore Perry, 
on Lake Erie, in which he captured the whole English fleet of six vessels, 
followed. When the year closed, the balance seemed to be in favor of the 
Americans. On land, the war had been waged with varying fortunes. 

The English had talked of chastizing America into submission, and the 
instrument they sent was a squadron under the command of Admiral 
Cockburn, which scattered to different points on the Atlantic coast and 
burned, robbed and slaughtered, ivithout mercy. In April, they destroyed 
the town of Lewiston, on the Delaware ; in May, Frenchtown, Havre de 
Grace, Georgetown, and Frederickstown on the Chesapeake, and all along the 
southern coast committed their fearful work of depredation and pillage. 
Commodore Hardy was sent to the New England coast, but his conduct 



i8i5] THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 99 

everywhere was in strong contrast to that of Admiral Cockburn. He acted 
like a high-minded gentleman and generous enemy. He landed at Castine, 
Maine, and sent a land force up the Penobscot to capture the sloop of war 
Adams. 

The war was now carried on with renewed vigor by the United States 
and men and money were furnished without stint. The Americans were 
gaining victories and matters were progressing. Then came an act which 
was most reprehensible and unusual in the annals of civilized warfare, for 
which the home government of England was solely responsible. The war 
with Napoleon had ended at the battle of Waterloo, and the veterans of 
Wellington were sent to America. The city of Washington was taken by 
them, and acting under orders the people were commanded to pay a large 
sum or have the public buildings burned. They refused to pay and the 
Capitol, Post Office building, President's mansion and other buildings were 
plundered and burned. The navy yard and some ships in process of 
building were burned by the Americans themselves. The bridge across 
the Potomac was destroyed, and then the British vandals withdrew 
to the coast. The war was scattered over a wide theater and the 
Americans were gaining victories here and there. Commodore Macdonough 
had gained a complete success over the whole English fleet on Lake 
Champlain, and the British sailor found his match on the ocean in his 
Anglo-American kinsman. Both sides were becoming weary of a devastating 
war and already there were negotiations for peace. The treaty was 
signed in December, 18 14, and sent to America, but before it had 
arrived or was known one of the most remarkable battles of history had 
been fought and won. This deserves record and we will here give a 
short account of it. 

THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 

If there had been a submarine telegraph in 181 5 the battle of New 
Orleans would never have been fought, and much English blood would 
have been saved. The treaty was signed December 24th, 18 14, and it was 
seven weeks before the news came to the southern portions of America. 
New Orleans was then a town of twenty thousand inhabitants and, as now, 
the center of a large cotton trade. The English Commander, General Packen- 
ham, saw that it was an important point and decided to attack it. He had 
the best English troops fresh from their victories in Europe. Andrew 
Jackson, now a Major-General in the army, arrived at New Orleans December 
2d, and, declaring martial law, soon restored confidence. He fortified the 
city, and when the British squadron, bearing twelve thousand soldiers, made 
their appearance he was ready to give them a good reception. On the 23d 
of December he met the advance guard of the army, twenty four hundred 
and routed them at a place about nine miles from the city, then he returned 
to a stronger position. He built a line of breastworks of cotton bales and 
earth to defend New Orleans, and awaited the attack that was made 



100 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1815 

January 8th, 181 5. These defenses were four miles from the city, and 
guarded the advance. General Packenham advanced with his entire 
army, under the best military discipline in the world, numbering twelve 
thousand. Jackson had less than six thousand men and the most of them 
were militia, but all had become good marksmen in the western woods. All 
was silent as the grave while the British advanced in solid column to carry 
the works. " Trust in God and keep your powder dry" had been Jackson's 
advice in the swamps of Florida, and now his men were putting it in 
practice. Steadily the attacking* army advanced and not a shot was fired 
until they were half a gun-shot distant, and then a terrific fire, every shot of 
which did good execution, burst upon the assailants. The British column 
wavered, their general was killed and they fled in confusion leaving seven 
hundred dead and more than a thousand wounded on the field. The 
fugitives hastened to their camp and ten days after sailed from the mouth of 
the Mississippi. This battle saved the whole South from invasion and 
rapine which would have followed before the news of peace was received. 

Thus the war closed, and both countries could point with pride to the 
heroic courage that had been displayed on land and sea, and deck their brave 
defenders with the medals of honor. The president issued his proclamation 
that peace was declared, February i8th, 1815, and the people united in 
celebrating the return of quiet all over the country. Business had become 
prostrated, the ships were rotting idly at the docks and industry was at a 
stand-still. The echoes of the shouts of rejoicing had not died on the air 
before the ring of the woodman's axe was heard in the forest of the settler, 
and the sound of the carpenter in the deserted shipyards. Commerce revived 
and industry lifted up its head. The Americans had the wonderful power of 
rapid recuperation from disaster. The treaty was not all that America could 
ask, but she had asserted her claim and maintained her rights. Never afterward 
was a sailor taken from an American ship as an English deserter ; sailors' 
rights were maintained, and the flag of the United States respected as never 
before. The Americans had lost thirty thousand lives, and one hundred 
millions of treasure, while England had suffered much heavier. The war had 
been a gigantic piece of folly and crime such as we trust no future generation 
will re-enact. 

During Mr. Madison's term and after the peace with England, the 
Algerian pirates thinking that the power of the United States on the sea had 
been broken, began their depredations again and were violating their treaty. 
Commodore Decatur was sent to punish them and forever put a stop to their 
infamous traffic. He bombarded Tripoli and the capitals of the several 
Barbary States which were subject to Turkey, brought their rulers to terms 
and compelled each State to re-imburse the United States for the losses 
caused to American shipping, and free all the American and English slaves 
held by them. This put an end to the infamy for all time. 

The only remaining events worthy of notice during the remainder of 
this Presidential term, were the admission of Indiana into the Union 



GAY'S CHRONOLOGICAL CHARTS OF AI 



The name of each author, the dates of his birth and death, as far as could be ascertained, the title of the work by which he is b 

Poets and Novelists ; the second, the writers on History, Geography, and other matters of exact detail 

is often celebrated in various departments of knowledge. His name will 



1808-13. 



IMAGINATION. 

I8O8-1850 SeargentS. Prentiss, The Dying Ytar. 
—1867 INatliaillel P. Willis, Sacred JWms. 
9 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Cunrdinn 

A ngcls. 
10— 1858 Robert T. Courad, Canr.ui 0/ Xafles ,■ 
Jack CaJc. 

11— 1849 Edgar Allen Poe, A'.ir-f « ,■ The Beth : 

i'ocjns. 
— 1881 Alfred B. Street, I'oems : The Indian 

Pass. 
—1850 FraneisS. Osgood, The Haffy Release : 

Floral Olfcring. 

12 Harriet Beeclier Stowe, " Uncle Toms 

Ca6in :" Ni'T'cls. 
Augustus C. Xlioiupson, Songs in the 

Night. 
Cephus G. Tliompson, The Mother's 

Prayer. 
13—1878 Sarab H. AVbltmau, Hours 0/ Life; 

Poems. 
Ann Stepltens, Fashion and Famine. 



FACT. 

1808 Jefferson Davis, C/ViV W'or. 

—1879 Geo. S. Hilliard, Six Months in Jail. 
10 Asa Gray, Elements 0/ Botany : Hoiv 

Plants Crow. 

— ■ — Jno. S. Hart, Prose Writers 0/ America; 

Am. Lit. 

J no. O. Sargent, Improvement in Naval 

War/are. 

—1873 James Brooks, Seven Months Around 

the World. 

11—1872 Horace Greeley, History 0/ Rebellion, 

W^endell Pllllllps, Speeches in Faneuil 

Hall. 
—1875 EllIlU Burrltt, Speeches and Lectures: 
Peace Papers. 

— — Tlieo. Sedge«rlck, Measure 0/ Damages. 
18— 1867 Jno. H. Alexander, Inter. Coinage: 

\y eights a nd Mcasu res. 
—1883 Alexander H. Stephens, Constitution- 
al I'ieiv 0/ Civil War. 
13— — Jas. Dwlgbt Dana, Geology : Journal 0/ 
Science. 



SPECULATIVE AND SCIENTIFIC. 

1808 Geo, B. Cbeever, Cod .-tgainst Slavery. 

9 Samuel Tyler, Dissertation on Baconian 

Phils. 
10— 1870 Edivard Tomson, .floral Essays. 

Margaret Fuller, Women 0/ the Nine- 
teenth Century. 
—i860 Theo. Parker, Sermons and Essays. 
11—1874 Cbas. Sumner, True Grandeur 0/ Na- 
tions. 
12—1880 Sam' 1 Osgood, Mile Stones in Life : Stu- 
dents' Li/e. 

Thos. HI. Clark, Early Discipline o/ the 

Church. 

13 Hy. Ward Beeelier, Star Papers: One 

ha 1/0/ the Li/e 0/ Christ. 

- — 1871 Hy. T. Tuckerman, Book 0/ the .Art- 
ists. 



1814—20. 



1814— 1880 Epes Sargent, The Bride 0/ Gensa : 

t he Priestess. 

15—1852 mrs. Eliz. Stuart Phelps, Sunny- 
Side : Tell lalc. 
-1850 Eleanor W. £,ec. Wife of Leon : Poems. 

16 Jno. G. Saxe, Progress: Poems : Satires. 

17-1877 Catharine A. n^ariield, Esther How- 
ard's Tejuptation. 

IS Susan Warner, The Wide, Wide World. 

Annie Warner, I he Other Shore. 

— 1S77 Eliz. F. EllCt, Eveningat Woodlamn. 

Emma ». E. Southworth, The De- 
serted it i/e : thirty-five Novels. 
19 W. W. Story, /Vfwj. 

—1870 Anna C. RItrble, Sketches and Essays. 

Walt Whitman, Leaves 0/ Crass. 

Thos. ^V. Parsons, The Magnolia 

I'oems. 

Cbas. A. Dana, Household Book 0/ Poe- 
try. 

Jas. Russell Lowell, Bigclow Papers. 



1814— 1877 Jno. L.. Motley, Dutch Republic. 

—1873 Jas. R. Brodtaead, History 0/ New 
i ork state. 
15—1882 Rich. Hy. Dana, Jr., Inter. Law: 
Seaman's I'riend. 

Ed^vard Joy Morris, The Turkish 

Empire. 
16— 1874 Jos. Haven, Mental and .Moral Phil. 
— — Geo. Leuis Prentice, Li/e 0/ Dr. 

Skin ner : Btogi up/: .c. . 
Williams. Tyler, Hist. Amherst Col- 
lege. 
17-1862 Henry D. Thorean, The Maine Woods. 

Jno. B, iiouglkj Lr/e and Reminiscences. 

18— 1879 Caleb Cushlng, .I/<i»ua/'.' Treaty 0/ Ge- 

neZ'a. 

19 Fordyee Barker, On Perpetual Diseases. 

Cbas. J. Steele, Hist. 0/ U. S. San. Com. 

aO Tbeo. D. Woolsey, Inter. Law: Com- 
munism and Socialism, 



:'; a; •:?*>,■•■;»*:■» v..^:?.f 



1814 Sam'l Harris, Kingdom 0/ Christ on 

Earth. 

Daniel KIrknrood, Comets and their 

Origin. 

15 Jos. Vvimm\li^»^ Moral Philosophy. 

—1877 Henry B. Smith, The Relation 0/ Faith 
a ltd Fh ilosopny. 
18— 1869 Frederick S. Cozzens, Sparrowgrass 

Papers. 
19-1879 Jos. P. Thompson, The Holy Com- 
/orter. 

20 Erastus O. Haven, Pillars 0/ Truth : 

Rhetoric. 



ERICAN AUTHORS AND LITERATURE. 



town. The names are arranged under three heads ; Imagination; Fact; Speculative and Scientific, 
third, those who treat of Philosophy and Science. This division cannot be perfect, for an author 
be found in the division which includes his best known productions. 



The first includes the 







1821—39. 




1830—44. 


1822- 


- 


Donald G. Mltrliell, Reveries of i 
Bdche/or. 


1830- 


— mary A. Dodge (Gail Hamilton), 

Wofnan's H rongs .- The Battle oj' the Books. 


— 


1S72 


Tho8. B. Read, n'asroner a/ the Alle- 


31- 


— E. EgglcNton, The Hoosier .Schoolmaster. 






ghiinics. 


— 


1865 mortimer ITI. XliumpMon, Doesticks. 


— 


— 


Wiu. X. Adams (Oliver OptK ), 

S lories. 


33- 


— liOUisa M. Alcott, ■' Old Fashioned 
Girl." 


. 23- 


— 


Mr». Sarali J. L.lpplncoU, Greemvooa 


— 


— Edward 0. Stedmaii, /7,7u>/,i« /V/j. 






t-ru'-es : J\>r/u.\. 


35- 


1867 Clias. F. Brown ( Vrtcmus AVard), 


24- 


— 


listclle A. Lewis, The Child 0/ tlie Sea 




Jill morons. 


— 


— 


CliaN. G. \^v\-A\\A^ Sunshine in Thouglit 

1 'OfTlli. 


— 


— Sam'l Ii. Clemens (Illark Twain), 

Innocents .-i broad. 




- 


Adeline D. ^Vliltney, OJd and Even 


— 


— Louise C lUoultOn, Soine Women's 


25- 


— 


Wni. A. Butler, S'othingto Wear ; Law- 




Ite.-.rls. 






yer and Cltent. 


— 


— Harriet C. Spoflbrd, -V. E. Stories. 


— 


1873 


Caroline Chestro, The Foe in the House- 
hold. 


— 


— Margaret Preston, lieeehen Brook. 

— 3\\o. 3. I'latt, .Vulsat Washington. 


- 


1878 Bayard Taylor, //to. Coil/re}' s Fortune 


36- 


— T, I5ulli>y Aldricll, Prudence Pal/rey. 


27- 


— 


Jno. X. Xrowbridge, Cudjos Ca?^ 


37- 


— %Vi!liuni'D. Howells, No Love I.ost. 






Novels 


39- 


— I-'i'uiieis Brete ilarte. Heathen Chi- 


28- 


iS6i 


Tlieo. ^ViUthrop, Ceeil Dreeme. 




nee : /•lip. Poems. 


- 


IS63 


Aliee B. Haven, No Sueh Word as Fail 


41- 


— C. H. miller (Joaquin), Song 0/ the 


29- 


— 


('has. Dudley Warner, My Summer 

in the Garden. 


43- 


Sierras: The Danites. 

— Henry James, Portrait 0/ a L.ady. 




1872 


Jas. Hadley, Greek Grammar ; Essays 


44- 


— MissE. Stuart Phelps, " (7,!to.jy,(j-." 


1821- 




1831- 


— Mary L. Booth, Uprising 0/ a Great 






rkilolot^ieal and Critical. 




People : Results 0/ Slavery. 


22- 


— 


James Parton, Life of Aaron Burr 


33- 


— James Redpath, Li/e 0/ John Bromn. 






A ndrew JaeksoK : Biographies. 


35- 


—■ Geo, F. Barker, Text Book on Chemistry. 


" 


" 


Rich. Grant White, Every-Day Eng- 
lish. 


— 


— Moses C. Xyler, Hist. 0/ Am. Lit.: 
Brovjnville Papers. 


23- 


— 


Francis Parkman, Conspiracy 0/ Pon- 






34- 


- 


Geo. Wm. Cnrtiss, Poiiphar Papers. 

Nile Notes. 






— 


1864 


Xlios. Starr King, White Hills 






25- 


1870 iriuthrop Sargent, Life 0/ Andre. 






27- 


— 


Wm. DwigUt Whitney, Philosophica 

Works. 






29- 


1867 Henry Xtmrod, Journalist Essays ana 










Sketches. 






1821- 


l88o Gilbert Haven, Pilgrim's Wallet: Ser 


1832- 


— Moncure D. Conw^ay, The Rejected 






tnons. 




.Stone : 'J'he Golden Hour. 


- 


— 


Rich. S. Storrs,' Constitution 0/ Human 
Soul. 


35- 


— W^ni. H. AVood, -Articles in Bildiotheca 






Sacra. 


23- 


— 


Xhos. £.ukc Harris, Arcana 0/ Chris- 
tianity : The Great Republic. 
















24- 
29- 




Xl«03. Preston, Ark 0/ the Covenant. 
Albert I,. Rawson, The Divine Origin 
o/the Bible. 




CHART XII. 




BIRTHS, 








AUT 


A.D. 1808—1844. 




HORS AND LITERATURE. 



I8i7] 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 



lOI 



December, 1816, and the chartering of a United States Bank with a capital 
of thirty-five million dollars. 

The new election resulted in the choice of James Monroe as President 
and Daniel D. Tompkins as Vice President. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MONROE. 

'HE fifth President of the American Republic had been 
the Secretary of State under his predecessor. His 
administration was distinguished by the rapid growth in 
material wealth and population, and the expansion of 
all the resources of the Republic. The manufactories 
of the United States, which had kept busy during the 
war, suffered from the influx of foreign goods, and were 
obliged to contract their work. This compelled many who 
had been engaged in them to see': -<e^v homes in the fertile 
lands beyond the Alleghanies and Oh'o, and a steady and 
r uninterrupted flood of emigration flowed in from the seaboard. 
New States and Territories were formed and the natural 
resources of the country were being developed at a most rapid 
rate. Mississippi was admitted into the Union December loth, 
1817; Illinois December 3d, 1818; Alabama December 14th, 
1819; Maine March 3d, 1820; Missouri March 2d, 1821. The 
buccaneering pirates that infested the Gulf of Mexico were 
surprised and put down. Florida was bought of Spain for seven millions by 
a treaty signed at Washington, February, 18 19. It was an era of general 
prosperity and growth. But the continued presence of slavery was- a 
menace to the Union, and in 1821 the measure known as the Missouri Com- 
promise was passed through Congress, and Missouri was admitted as a slave 
State. The temporary excitement abated, and the re-election of Mr. Monroe 
and his associate, was the most formal and quiet affair ever known in 
American politics. His administration bad made itself popular by two 
measures which had been passed. The first was the pensioning of all the 
surviving soldiers of the Revolution, their i4v.pendent widows and orphans, 
and the second, the settlement of the boundary line from the Lake o/lthe 
Woods to the Rocky Mountains. 

The visit of Lafayette, the friend and companion of Washington, to this 
country, in which he was tl'e nation's guest and received ovations in every 
town and city through V .ich he passed, occurred in 1824-5. He was every- 
where greeted with the wildest enthusiasm and met men who had served 
under him in the war. He saw the wonderful improvement on all sides, and 
towns, counties, streets and public institutions on every hand had been called 
after him. When he was ready to return, the government placed at his 




I02 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1817 




service a vessel, named after the battle in which he first fought in the 
Revolution — the Bra7idywine. 

LAFAYETTE. 

THE FRIEND OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND 
AMERICAN FREEDOM ! 

The Marquis de Lafayette was born in 
1757, and was one of the most extraor- 
dinary and influential men of his time. He 
was, in the fullest sense, a member of the 
French aristocracy, and a gentleman of 
fortune. His precocity may be inferred 
from the fact, that at the age of fourteen 
he displayed marked literary ability, and 
Avrote with great fluency. When but six- 
teen he married ; and three years afterward, 
f| moved by a love of liberty, on hearing of 
the struggle in which the American Colonies 
were engaged, he resolved to leave wife, 
home and kindred, and draw his sword on the side of the oppressed. Here 
was a sacrifice at the shrine of human freedom ! — Young, noble, wealthy, the 
friend of princes, and the beloved of an adored and beautiful wife, he 
separated himself from all, and the advantages pertaining to his rank, to 
share the dangers and the fate of the brave handful of half-starved, half- 
naked patriots, who dared to stand up for the right in the face of one of the 
most powerful nations in the world. 

His freedom of action in this relation, however, was embarrassed, 
inasmuch as the king, who objected to his leaving France, ordered his arrest 
so as to prevent him carrying out his noble project. But here the French 
monarch was powerless, for the object of this persecution, having fitted out a 
ship at his own expense, escaped to it in disguise after untold privations, and 
after having once been recognized by a young girl who found him asleep on 
some straw, but who never once thought of betraying him. 

He had heard of the loss of New York and New Jersey to the Americans, 
but this only served to increase his desire to hasten to the relief of the latter. 
And so, although pursued by two French cruisers, and menaced by the 
English men of war on the coast, he escaped all dangers and landed safely 
on the shores of South Carolina. Here everything was novel and delightful 
to him, as he observed in a letter to his wife shortly after his arrival, and here 
he soon met Washington, for whom he formed an instant and abiding 
friendship, so impressed was he with the true nobility and commanding 
virtues of that great and mighty man. 

When Lafayette first saw the poorly armed, ragged and half-fed forces of 
America in line before him at Philadelphia, nothing could exceed his surprise. 



a 



1825] THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 103 

But with a penetration beyond his years, he perceived in this stern, self, 
sacrificing and dogged array, all the elements of future success ; and this 
conviction often seemed to impart strength and hope to any whose spirits 
tended to droop beneath the weight of the reverses and great privations 
that pressed upon them. Washington also soon began to discover the true 
metal in the young Frenchman of nineteen, whose sword invariably leaped 
from its sheath at the word of command. Hence, when but twenty, he was 
made a Major-General. 

Lafayette's sufferings in our cause were severe, and his labors terrible. He 
was wounded at Brandywine, and lay for si.x weeks at Bethlehem, when, 
Ithough scarcely able to move, he wrote letters constantly to France 
imploring its statesmen to attack England in India and the West Indies. 
Before his wounds were healed he rejoined the army. He performed in 
winter a journey on horseback of four hundred miles to Albany; he 
commanded at Rhode Island ; fought like a lion, and bore all the hardships 
and privations of war. After this he was seized with a violent fever, and 
seemed for weeks at the point of death. On his recovery he set sail for his 
native land, from Boston, in 1780. 

On returning to France, he was received with open arms by all the young 
nobles of liberal views, while the King pardoned him and sent him back to 
America with a promise of ships, money, clothes and men. Once again he 
rejoined Washington, who soon trusted him beyond all others. He now 
commanded in Virginia with skill and bravery against Cornwallis, and with 
his illustrious chief planned the campaign which resulted in the taking of 
Yorktown and the close of a long and painful war. 

After the surrender of Cornwallis, Lafayette returned to France once 
more, when the Revolution, prompted by the ideas and the success of the 
Americans, began to move in its tortuous grooves. He was now the favorite 
of the people, and was all powerful in the land, but in the shadow of his path 
crept the Marats, Dantons and Robespierres of the hour, while the armies of 
Europe lay in front of him, ready to crush his republican projects. He was 
overpowered and constrained to fly from France and seek shelter on foreign 
soil ; but instead of shelter, in a friendly sense, he found himself immured 
within the gloomy walls of Olmutz, where he remained for five years. For 
more than half that period he was cut off from all communication with the 
world ; and could not even learn whether his wife and children were still alive. 
At length his wife, who had barely escaped from the guillotine, joined him 
with her two daughters, and shared his imprisonment— their son having been 
sent to America to the care of Washington. ' Nor was it until the armies of 
France, under Napolean, began to shake Europe that they were released. 

He now became a leader in every move pertaining to the advancement of 
liberal government, and cultivated a large farm at La Grange, near Paris. 
On hearing of the death of Washington he wept bitterly; and in 1824-25, 
after an absence of forty years, he again visited America, but this time with 
his son. His reception was magnificent beyond measure— the gratitude of a 



I04 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[i82S 



generous nation permeating it through and through. He visited once more, 
all the old historic places, and met many of his comrades in arms, with such 
intense emotion that it would be almost profanation to attempt to put it in 
words. On his return to France he still stood firm in the principles he had 
espoused and fought for; but the time of his departure was drawing nigh; 
for he breathed his last, in hope and in peace, at La Grange, in 1834, leaving^ 
behind him a character for all that was noble, self-sacrificing, courageous and 
just. His chateau at this place has been the shrine of many an American 
pilgrim, and it is still filled with reminiscences of the land he loved and aided 
so well. He left one son, George Washington, and two daughters. Edmund 
Lafayette, who visited America in 1881, is the son of that son, and the 
last of his name. The portrait which we give here of the illustrious Marquis, 
is from an engraving published by his family. 



ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 

'HE election of 1824, resulted in no choice by the 

people, and for the second time the election of 

President was referred to the House of Representatives. 

They elected John Quincy Adams, the second son of 

Ex-President Adams, to be President. John C. Calhoun 

had been elected Vice President by the people. This 

administration was a quiet one and undisturbed by any 

very serious controversy. The trouble between the State of 

Georgia and the general government growing out of the claims 

for the land of the Creek Indians, and their removal, was 

peaceably adjusted. The National Government took the 

position of defenders of the Indians, and quietly removed them 

to their reservation in the territory set apart for them. 

A gigantic work of internal improvement for the times was 
undertaken and finished in the State of New York, the 
building of the Erie Canal. 

A remarkable coincidence occurred in the year 1826. John 
Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who had both been Vice Presidents and 
Presidents of the United States, died in old age on the 4th of July. 

The fiftieth anniversary of American Independence, July 4th, 1826, was 
made a jubilee through the entire Union. The celebrations were of' the 
most patriotic nature, and reference was made in orations and addresses to 
the materal expansion of the Republic. Better occasion for a jubilee the world 
had never known. The point to pause and look back had come. The rapid 
growth of the nation was unparalleled in the history of the world. The 
^''ufl ^^o!^' ^""^ ^^''°"'^ twenty-four, and the area of the country nearly 
doubled. She could look out upon the Atlantic on the east, and the Pacific 
on the west. Her right was undisputed from the lakes on the north to 




1829] 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 



105 



the gulf on the south. Two wars had been fought and won. The debt we 
incurred in the first had been paid and the second war debt was fast 
disappearing. Prosperity was on every hand. Canals provided an avenue for 
the rich grain lands of the West to the seaboard by the way of the lakes and 
the Hudson. A steady tide of emigration westward, had opened up this 
boundless region to civilization, and the foreign trade of the country had 
swollen to two hundred millions per year. 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JACKSON. 

HE hero of New Orleans was the seventh President 
of the United States, and John C. Calhoun was 
elected Vice President. The election was by a large 
majority. His inauguration was marked by incidents of 
peculiar interest. He came to the Senate Chamber 
escorted by a few survivors of the Revolutionary War, 
and in the presence of the heads of departments and 
the House of Congress, addressed them. Then he retired to 
the eastern portico of the Capitol and there received the oath 
of office. Andrew Jackson was a man of strong passions, 
uncorrupt heart, and an iron will. His instructions to the first 
Minister he sent to England is a type of the man. " Ask 
nothing but what is right, submit to nothing that is wrong." 
His audacity annoyed his friends and alarmed his foes. 
There were not an}- middle-men. His friends loved and admired 
him ; his opponents hated and feared him. He caused an 
impassable gulf between himself and his enemies which no 
charity could bridge over. He ruled with an iron hand and was the 
firm opponent of disunion and the United States Bank. The first thing 
which came up was the settlement of the Georgia question with the Cherokees. 
Jackson was in favor of Georgia, but the Supreme Court decided in favor 
of the Indians. 

At last General Winfield Scott was sent to remove them peaceably if 
he could, but forcibly if he must. But General Scott by his justice and 
moderation accomplished his task without blood-shed. The Cherokees were 
far advanced in civilization, and had churches, schools and farms, but they 
were induced to move beyond the Mississippi. 

Jackson was an implacable foe to the National Bank. He attacked 
it in his annual message in 1830, and in 1831, when the ofificers 
petitioned for a renewal of the charter, and a bill for this purpose had 
been passed by both Houses with a decided majority, he vetoed it, 
and the charter e.xpired by limitation in 1836. A commercial panic was 
threatened and business was injured. 

An Indian war on the northwestern frontier broke out in 1832, 
known as the Black Hawk War, but was quickly subdued. A more 




io6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1837 

portentous war cloud overhung the South. The cotton-growing States 
were opposed to a protective tariff which favored the North, and South 
Carolina declared by law that the national tariff laws were null and void 
within that State, and proclaimed the usual threat, that any attempt to 
enforce those laws in Charleston, would be met by opposition and the 
withdrawal of the State from the Union. Preparations were made for 
war, and it seemed as if civil strife was at hand. Jackson issued his famous 
proclamation which denied the right of any State to nullify the laws of the 
United States, and declared that the laws should be enforced, and any one 
obstructing them would be guilty of treason and punished. Then South 
Carolina came to its senses, and rescinded their acts, and the civil war was 
deferred for a time. 

The contest of the President with the United States bank was renewed. 
The public funds were removed and placed in State banks. The amount of 
paper discounted by the bank was contracted, and much financial trouble 
arose. Jackson's fear of the moneyed power of the banks was prompted by 
much foresight and wisdom, though the immediate result of his course was 
disastrous to the commercial interests of the country. Then came the 
fearful business panic of 1833-34, in which hundreds of business men went 
down, never to rise. 

There arose serious dif^culty in 1835, with the Indians in Florida. The 
United States had set apart a territory west of the Mississippi for the use of 
all the Indians east of that river, and Congress had provided for their 
removal to that territory. We have seen that there was trouble with the 
Creeks and Cherokees in Georgia upon this question, and now the Seminole 
tribe were in open war in reference to the same matter. Osceola, a brave but 
crafty chief, had gathered his tribe to fight the whites and contest the right 
to his land. We cannot see how he could do otherwise than defend the 
graves of his fathers and the homes of his children. The story of the 
Indians' wrongs and sufferings is a dark one on the pages of our history. 
General Scott was sent to prosecute the war, and he pushed it with vigor 
until the Indians were nearly exterminated, and the remainder forced to 
submit. A war lasting seven years and costing millions of treasure and 
thousands of lives was entailed upon the country and the incoming 
administration. Jackson's administration was marked with vigor and 
decision. He had compelled France to fulfill her promise to pay an 
indemnity of five million dollars in annual instalments for the losses 
sustained to American commerce by the decrees and orders of Napoleon. 

A great excitement was engendered by the last official act of President 
Jackson. The issue of the circular to all the custom houses ordering that 
all collectors of revenue be required to collect duties only in gold and silver. 
This special circular was denounced as arbitrary and tyrannical, as it bore 
heavily on every kind of business. Congress passed a law for its repeal but 
the President kept it without signing until after the final adjournment of 
Congress. Jackson did this to prevent speculation and for what he 



lS4i] 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 



107 



considered wise reasons, but it caused a bitter feeling against him. Arkansas 
and Micliigan were added to tlie Union during Jackson's term of office. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF MARTIN VAN BUREN. 

'HE inauguration of the eiglith President of the United 
States seemed to mark the dawn of a new era in its his- 
tory. The Presidents prior to him had all been descend- 
ants of the English, but Martin Van Buren was a de- 
scendant of an old Dutch family and was born after 
the American conflict. When he was inaugurated he 
found the country on the verge of a disastrous com- 
mercial panic which swept all over the land. The immediate 
measures for the relief of the panic of 1833-34 was only tem- 
porary. The funds taken from the United States Bank and 
odged in State banks were loaned upon, and for a little time 
;he relief was felt in business circles, but this only sowed the 
^ceds of a commercial disorder which would bring its fearful 
larvest in the future. The banks, thinking these funds might 
se regarded as so much capital, loaned money freely and a 
;udden expansion of the currency was the result. In January 
he Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to distribute 
all the funds of the United States among the several States in propor- 
tion to population reserving five million dollars. Consequently they were 
withdrawn from the banks January 1st, 1837, and an immense financial 
pressure was the immediate result. May lOth the banks suspended specie 
payment and a panic ensued which prostrated all kinds of business. An 
extra session of Congress was called to afford relief, September, 1837. They 
issued treasury notes to the amount of ten million dollars. A disturbance 
broke out in Canada in 1837 which threatened to involve the United 
States. An attempt was made to establish this province into an indepen- 
dent State and the laws of neutrality were violated by those in the States who 
sympathized with the movement. A secret organization known as Hunting 
Lodges was formed. The British government held the United States respon- 
sible for this breach of neutrality, and the war cloud overhung the northern 
border for about four years. The next election resulted in the elevation of 
the whig candidate, William H. Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, to the 
Presidency. The campaign had been spirited and intense. The battle cry 
of this party had been "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Personal abuse and 
vituperation united to make the canvass scandalous and offensive. 





io8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1841 

.'ADMINISTRATION OF HARRISON AND TYLER. 

ENERAL WILLIAM H. HARRISON was an old 
man when inaugurated and had passed through many 
hardships in the Indian wars, but he was vigorous and 
active with the prospect of a number of years of life. 
His inaugural address was well received and his cabinet 
chosen and confirmed. The only official act he per- 
formed was to call an extra session of Congress to meet 
in May to confer upon the financial condition of the country and 
its revenue. He died just one month after taking the oath of 
ofifice — April 4th, 1841, and the Vice President, John Tyler, 
succeeded to that position. Mr. Tyler retained the cabinet of 
General Harrison until after the extra session of Congress which 
had been called. At this session measures for the relief of the 
commercial troubles of the country were adopted. The sub- 
treasury act was repealed and a bankrupt law was passed. The 
chartering of a Bank of the United States was defeated by the veto of the 
President, who like Jackson saw great danger in the system. This led to a 
violent censure of the Executive by his own party, and to the resignation of 
his Cabinet. In 1842 the return of the United States Exploring Expedition 
from the Atlantic Ocean, the settlement of the boundary line on the north- 
east frontier of Maine, the re-modifying of the tariff and the domestic difficul- 
ties in Rhode Island, were events of public interest. A tariff for revenue 
only was adopted. The boundary line of Maine was fixed by the Webster- 
Ashburton treaty, giving the United States jurisdiction over a large 
part of the disputed territory. Rhode Island had some difficulty in 
forming a State Constitution which divided the citizens into two parties, the 
"suffrage" and the "law and order" party. The threatened rupture caused 
the governor to invoke the aid of the general government, and the adminis- 
tration favored the " law and order " party, which resulted in the adoption 
of a constitution in November, 1842. The old charter from England had 
been in force up to this time but the new constitution, more in accord with 
the system of government in the other States, went into efTect the first 
Tuesday in May, 1843. 

Texas was an independent State, and was seeking admission to the 
Union, but on account of the introduction of slavery into its constitution 
there was strong opposition to it in the North. A treaty for its admission 
was signed April 12th, 1844, but was rejected by the Senate. The subject then 
came up in the form of a joint resolution, which passed both Houses of Con- 
gress March ist, 1845, and was signed by Mr. Tyler. This question had 
entered into the election of 1844, and James K. Polk, one of the candidates 
for President, who was pledged to the measure, was elected by a decided 
majority. The last official act of Mr. Tyler was to sign the bills for the 
admission of Florida and Iowa into the family of States, March 3rd, 1845. 



1845] 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 



109 




ADMINISTRATION OF POLK, AND MEXICAN WAR. 

'HE absorbing matters which demanded the immediate 
attention of the new administration was the annexation 
of Texas, and the settlement of the northwest 
boundary on the northern line of Oregon. President 
Tyler had sent a messenger to the Texan government 
informing them of the action of Congress, and a 
convention was called to accept the measure. They 
)ted the State Constitution July 4th, 1845, and the Lone 
was added to the American constellation. The other 
;tion received [immediate attention. A vast territory 
■een the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, had 
I in dispute between England and the United States. In 
'• the}' had agreed to occupy the bays, harbors and rivers 
MTimon. This was renewed in 1827 for an indefinite period, 
the promise that either government might rescind on 
ig a year's notice to the other. The United States gave 
notice in 1846. The United States and Great Britain 
each claimed the whole territory to 54 degrees and 40 minutes north latitude, 
and the cry was " 54-40 or fight," but at last a peaceful settlement was 
agreed upon on the 49th parallel of north latitude. The annexation of 
Texas as had been predicted, caused a rupture between the United States 
and Mexico. The latter government still claimed the right to Texas 
although it had been acknowledged to be an independent State by the 
United States, England, France and other governments. The Mexican 
Minister at Washington demanded his pass-ports, and on June 4th, 1845, the 
President of Mexico issued his proclamation, declaring his intention to 
appeal to arms. The United States had also other questions to settle with 
that Republic, growing out of her treatment of United States' citizens. The 
American army was sent to the extreme southeastern confines of Texas, and 
erected a fortification within easy range of the city of Matamoras. General 
Zachary Taylor, was sent by the President to take command of the forces 
there. "An army of occupation" was organized and entered the territory of 
Mexico. The first blood was shed at Fort Brown, which the Mexicans 
cannonaded and attacked with a superior force after General Taylor had been 
ordered by the Secretary of War to advance on Corpus Christi. The 
Commander, Major Brown was mortally wounded, and a signal was given for 
General Taylor to return. He met and overcame an army of six thousand 
Mexicans under Arista, at Palo Alto, and hastened toward Fort Brown. The 
next day he overtook and conquered a strongly fortified army at a place 
called Resaca de la Palma, a number of prisoners were taken and the armj' 
of Northern Mexico was completely broken up. These tv/o battles were 
fought on the 7th and the 9th of May. When the news of this first blood- 



no 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1845 



sliod reached New Oilcans the laiul was aroused. Congress had declared, 
*' by the act of the Republic of Mexico a state of war exists between the 
United States and that goNernnient," and authorized the Executive to raise 
an arnn- of I'lfly thousand volunteers, and appropriated ten million tloUars 
toward defra\ing the expenses of the war. The war with Mexico was a 
series of \ictories for the I'nited States. Tlie Mexicans were driven out of 
Matanior.is M.iy iSth. Monterey was besieged September, 21st, and 
surrentlered September 24th, an armistice was then taken until November 13th. 
Saltillo the capital of Cohahuila was captured November T5th. Santa Anna 

the Mexican General 
surrendered T a mpico 
the day before, Novem- 
ber 14th. All these 
victories were gained 
b)- Cieneral Taylor, 
w h i> h a d been i n 
c o m m and; but now 
there came a severe tri- 
al of his patriotism 
and patience. General 
Winfield Scott, who 
superseded him in rank, 
was sent to take com- 
mand in Mexico, and 
General Taylor was 
left with a command 
of onl\- five hundred 
r e g u 1 a r s and five 
t h o u s a n d volunteers. 
February 22d, the anni- 
versarj- of the birth of 
SANTA ANNA. Washington, the little 

band of General Taylor was attacked by twenty thousand Mexicans, who, 
after a severe battle, were repulseii by the Americans. 

While these victories were being gained in Central Mexico. " The 
army of the West" was sent under command of General Kearney, to 
Northern Mexico. This army took possession of Santa Fe, the capital of 
New Mexico, August iSth ; hero he received information that the conquest of 
California had already been achieved by Commodore Stockton and Lieutenant 
Colonel Fremont, who had aroused the resident Americans on the Pacific 
coast and captured Sonoma Pass, Juno 15th, 1S46, and driven all the 
Mexicans out of that region July, sth. On the 7th Monterey h.ad been 
bombarded and captured. The Commodore and Lieutenant-Colonel had 
entered San Francisco on the 9th. The city of Los Angeles had surrendered 
on the 1 "th. .>nd l-^omont had boon the true liberator of the whole Pacific 




i849] THE CONSTITUTIONAL TKRIOI). in 

coast. General Kearney on roccixiiitj^ tliis iiifdini.ilion pusluil on In's forces, 
and met Commodore Stocl^ton, and Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, December 
27th, 1846, and with them shared the final honors which completed the 
conquest of California. Fremont wanted to be i;o\-ernor of the territory he 
had conquered, and his claims were favored by Commodore Stockton and all 
the people, but General Kearney, his superior, refused to allow it. I*"remont 
would not obe)' him but issued a proclamation as governor. l'"remont was 
called home to be tried for disobedience of orders. Mis commission was 
taken from him, but the President offered to return it the ne.xt day. 
Fremont refused to accept it, and turned again to the wilderness to engage 
in exploration. 

While General Kearney was gone to California, Colonel Doniphan with 
one thousand Missouri volunteers, forced the Navajo Indians to sign a treaty 
of peace, November, 1846, and then \vd his troojjs southward to join 
General Wool. He met and overcame a large force of Mexicans at l^aciti, 
in the valley of the Rio del Norte, on December 22d. The Mexican 
General sent word to him, " We will neither ask nor give quarter." With a 
black flag the Mexicans atlvaneed, antl the INlissourians fell on their faces. 
The savages thinking them all killed rushed forward to plunder them, but the 
whole force sprang to their feet and fired with such deadly effect as to 
disperse the Mexicans with great slaughter. Colonel Doniphan met another 
force of Mexicans, four thousand strong, on h'ebruary 28th, 1847, «i''"J 
completely routed them. He raised the American flag over Chihuahua, a 
city of forty thousand inhabitants, March 2d, and after resting six weeks 
marched to Saltillo, and turned over his command to General Wool. He had 
made a perilous march of five thousand miles, from the Mississippi, won two 
great battles, and then returned to New Orleans. All Northern Mexico and 
California were now in possession of the Americans, and General Winfield 
Scott was on his way to the city of Mexico. 

General Scott landed before Vera Cruz with an army of thirteen 
thousand, March gth, 1847. The squadron was in coniiiiand of Commodore 
Connor. The city was invested March I3tli, and held out until the 27th, 
when the Americans took possession of Vera Cruz, and captured live thousand 
prisoners and five hundred guns. Ten days after this, General Scott 
commenced his march inland, and on the iSthof April he fought and won 
the battle of Cerro Gordo, at the foot of the Cordilleras. More than a 
thousantl Mexicans were killeil and three thousand taken prisoners. These 
Scott dismissed on parole, which they at once viol.ited. The victorious army 
entereil the city of Jalapa on the 18th, aiul on the 22d of April, General 
Worth unfurled the Stars and Stripes on the summit of the Cordilleras, fifty 
miles beyond the city of Jahqia. But the victorious army did not halt here. 
They marched forward, and on the 15th of May, 1847, took po.ssession of the 
well fortified city of Puebla, containing eighty thousand inhabitants. Here 
they halted to rest for a while. In the short space of two months an army of 
ten thousand men hail capturetl a larger number of prisoners than the army 



112 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1845 

itself, taken possession of the strongest points on the continent, and were 
Avaiting for the order " on to Mexico." In August, after being reinforced by 
fresh troops, Scott resumed his triumphal march to new victories. August 
20th, the camp of six thousand Mexicans at Contreras was defeated by the 
Americans in a detachment under General Smith. Churubusco was taken at 
the same time by General Scott. An army thirty thousand strong, in the 
heart of its own country, had been broken up by one less than a third of that 
number. The American army were at the very gates of the city of Mexico 
and might have entered in triumph, but General Scott held out the olive 
branch of peace and would have spared the Mexicans that disgrace. A flag 
of truce from Santa Anna came asking for an armistice, which was granted. 
Mr. Nicholas P. Twist, a commissioner of peace, appointed by the United 
States, was sent to the city to treat with Santa Anna, but returned with the 
information that he had not only rejected the offer with scorn, but was 
violating the armistice by strengthening his defenses. 

General Scott began his demonstration against the city, September 8th, 
when a body of less than four thousand troops attacked a superior force at 
El Molinos del Rey, near Chapultepec, and at first suffered the only repulse 
of the war, but afterwards rallied and drove the Mexicans before them. On 
the morning of the 13th of September, the flag of the United States was 
unfurled over the ruined castle of Chapultepec, and Santa Anna was fleeing a 
fugitive with his shattered army and the ofificers of government. September 
14th, the army of the United States entered the city of Mexico in triumph, 
and planted the Stars and Stripes over the National Palace. Order was soon 
restored in that ancient capital, and when a provisional government could be 
formed, peace was declared. Mexico gave up California, Arizona and New 
Mexico, and conceded to all the claims of the United States. Mexico was 
evacuated by the American army, and twelve million dollars were paid by the 
United States to Mexico in four annual instalments, and the United States 
also assumed the debts due to private citizens to the amount of three 
millions. This treaty was signed in February 2d, 1848. The very next 
month gold was discovered in large quantities in California, and President 
Polk in his annual message, in December, 1848, published the fact to the 
world. The gold fever broke out all over the States, and spread to other 
■countries, and during the whole year of 1849 ^ constant stream of emigration 
flowing across the plains and around Cape Horn, came to this Eldorado of 
the West to find the wealth which the early Spanish and French adventurers 
liad sought in vain. Thousands came from Europe and South America, and 
ship-loads of Chinese came from Asia. The dreams of the voyagers who 
came to Salvador and Florida, in the fifteenth century, seemed to be realized 
in the nineteenth. Emigrants continued to flock thither, and yet (1882) the 
supply is not exhausted. 

The popularity which General Taylor had acquired in the Mexican war 
by his victories and his patriotism, led to his nomination and election to the 
Presidency, with Millard Fillmore as Vice President. 



1 849] 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD. 



115 



Two domestic measures during the administration of James K. Polk had 
been very popular. The estabhshment of a national treasury system, and a 
protective tariff. Wisconsin was admitted to the Union,, May 29th, 1848, 
making thirty States in all. At this point we will stop for a while to review 
the dark question of American history, and tell the story of its wrongs. 




The Hero of The Mexican War, General Winfield Scott. 



V. 




rown 



THE PERIOD OE AGITATION 

AND THE DARK CHAPTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY. 



E have brought our readers down the line of events to 
the time the twelfth President was about to take his 
seat of office. We liave seen the continent redeemed 
from its savage inhabitants and settled with an active, 
energetic population of freemen who had acquired 
their independence, subdued the wilderness, devel- 
oped its resources, spread their white-winged com- 
every sea, explored their own territory and made discov- 
ther parts of the world, driven the pirates from their own 
id humbled the pirates in the Mediterranean, compelled 
t due their flag from other nations and established their 
jndaries by peaceful diplomacy or glorious war. They had 
Ti thirteen States to thirty and their domain now stretched 
3ad belt from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the 
.e gulf, with no nation to challenge their right. They were 
prosperous at home and respected abroad. The industry, intelligence and 
enterprise of her citizens are unparalleled, and their inventions, discoveries 
and mechanical arts were astonishing to the inhabitants of the old world. 
The inventors and discoverers of the United States had revolutionized the 
commerce, the manufactures and the travel of the past. The steamboat, 
the electric telegraph, the cotton gin and the inventions in every department 
of trade had startled the inhabitants of Europe from their dream of centuries. 
But in spite of the growth in material strength, in national domain and wealth 
there was a' dark blot upon the country, and the agitation and strife which it 
was continually causing, gave reasons for constant alarm to our wisest and 
best statesmen. How to deal with this dark subject was a serious question 
to the moralist, the patriot and the philanthropist. That question was the 
fearful presence of American slavery and its insatiate demand for more 
territory. To go back to the beginning : England had forced the African 
slave trade upon the unwilling colonists, and her Parliament had watched 
with fostering care this hideous traffic. In the first half of the eighteenth 
century there was constant legislation in its favor, and every restraint upon 
its largest development was removed with solicitous regard. Twenty negro 
slaves were sold to the planters of Virginia in the same year the pilgrims 
landed at Plymouth, 1620, and these were the first brought into America. 
In December, 1671, Sir John Yeamans, Governor of South Carolina, brought 
two hundred black slaves with him from the West Indies. In 1641, the 



blacks were recognized in law as slaves by Massachusetts. 



In Connecticut 



i85o] THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 115 

and Rhode Island in 1650; in New York in 1656; in Maryland in 1663, and 
in New Jersey in 1665. There were some slaves in Pennsylvania and 
Delaware about 1690. In North and South Carolina, they were introduced 
at the time of settlement. In Georgia the use of slaves was prohibited by 
law but the planters evaded the law by hiring servants for one hundred 
years, paying their owners in the other colonies the value of such slaves. In 
New Hampshire the slaves came with the settlers from Massachusetts. So 
■we see that slavery could be found, under the sanction of law, in every one 
of the original thirteen States, at the opening of the eighteenth century. 
The British government seemed determined to encourage the importa- 
tion of slaves into the West Indies and American Colonies by every means 
in her power. The Colonies sought to check the increase by imposing a 
tax on slaves brought into them, but Parliament compelled its repeal. 
A hundred acres of land in the West Indies was given to every planter who 
would keep four slaves. Forts were built and manned on the African coast to 
protect the men who were engaged in this trafific. The most humiliating 
chapter in the history of England was in regard to this subject. As late as 
the year 1749, the English Parliament passed an act bestowing still greater 
encouragement upon the traffic, in which it was stated : " The slave-trade is 
very advantageous to Great Britain." 

The moral sense of New England was opposed to slavery and very early 
the idea became prevalent there that it was unscriptural to hold a baptized 
person in slavery. They did not however liberate their slaves, but withheld 
religious instruction from them. The Bishops of the church and the officers 
of the crown endeavored to put them right on this question, and the Colonial 
Assemblies passed laws to reassure the people that it was right to hold 
Christians in slavery. 

Before the Revolution three hundred thousand slaves had been brought 
into the Colonies from Africa, and at that time there were half a million 
slaves scattered over the country. These were in every Colony, although 
there were but thirty thousand in the North. The children of the Puritans 
owned Indians, and in due time came to hold Africans, but the soil was hard 
and sterile and required that the tiller should be a person of thought and 
intelligence. All kinds of labor demanded brain as well as physical force 
and for this reason slave labor in the North was never remunerative, and 
gradually the slaves all died out or were shipped South. The moral senti- 
ment as well as the conditions of the soil and climate of the North was 
opposed to the whole system of human servitude. 

There were different conditions in the fertile and sunny South. The 
climate was congenial to the African and the soil was productive to the 
extreme of luxuriance. The crops were such as the unskilled labor of the 
slave could produce with profit to his master, tobacco, cotton and rice. The 
land in the South was divided into large plantations and the cities were 
mostly engaged in the export of their staple products. Yet for all this, at 
the time of the Revolution there was a very wide spread opposition to the 



ii6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1620 

institution of slavery. The free spirit which influenced the patriots was. 
antagonistic to the whole idea of human bondage. The leaders of the 
conflict were many of them slaveholders but they regarded the institution as 
odious and wrong. 

Washington provided in his will for the freedom of his slaves. Hamilton 
was the member of a society which aimed at the gradual abolition of the 
whole system. John Adams was deadly opposed to it. Patrick Henr}% 
Franklin, Madison and Monroe, were outspoken against it. Jefferson, the 
man who wrote the first draft of the Constitution, himself a Virginian, said of 
it, " I tremble for my country when I remember that God is just." When 
the convention that met to frame the Constitution assembled in Philadelphia, 
the feeling was strong against slaverj', and had the majority followed their 
own conviction of right, a provision would have been incorporated for its 
gradual and final extinction. But the desire to frame a document that would 
be acceptable to all the States led to a tender treatment of the subject, and 
finally to one of these unholy compromises which has marked the whole 
course of legislation upon the subject for more than eighty years, and in time 
resulted in the most cruel and bloody internal war which has ever come to 
any nation. It was proposed to prohibit the importation of slaves at once, 
and all the Northern and most of the Southern members were in favor of it. 
But the delegates of South Carolina and Georgia threatened to withdraw 
from the convention if this was done ; and instead, it was provided that 
Congress might abolish the traffic after twenty years if she saw fit. 

Using the same threat of disunion, the slave States of the extreme 
South gained other concessions of great importance. First, that if a person 
escaped from a slave State to a free State that did not make him free ; and 
second that in the apportionment for representatives to Congress the 
population of white citizens should be taken and to this should be added 
three fifths of all other persons excluding Indians not taxed. While the 
words slave and slavery are not to be found in the Constitution, by these 
unrighteous concessions to the extreme slave States, the vile institution was 
intrenched within the organic law of the land and the first and most 
important victory was gained for the monstrous evil. 

Even in the South there was a strong public sentiment against the 
wrong. Slave owners acknowledged its evil and freely discussed it. The 
pulpit preached against it, and men prophesied its extinction, and the 
meanest black might hope that the time would come when the words of the 
Declaration of Independence would apply to him. 

The accession of the vast domain of Louisiana from France, opened up a 
mighty region to the profitable cultivation of sugar cane and cotton by slave 
labor. The growth of cotton was becoming a matter of great importance. 
The invention of the spinning jenny by Richard Arkwright in England, in 
1768, followed by the introduction of steam power by James Watts had 
created an extensive demand for cotton, which Great Britain could only find 
in sufficient quantity and proper quality in the Southern States of the 



iSso] 



THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. u; 



American Union. Eli Whitney, a New England farmer's son, was a born 
mechanic. In 1792, he was on a visit to the home of Mrs. Greene, in the 
State of Georgia, and heard of the trouble which surrounded the cotton 
planters in separating the fibers of the cotton from the seed, and the wish 
that some device would be invented to overcome this. Young Whitney set 
his inventive genius at work to construct a machine for this purpose, and 1 
after much study, many improvements, and oft repeated failures, finally 
invented the cotton gin. The planters of Georgia saw in the rudely 
constructed machine exhibited to them in the back room of Mrs. Greene's 
residence the possibilities of untold wealth for them, and heeded it as a sign 
of their deliverance from this trouble. The cotton gin made the growing of . 
cotton vastly more remunerative than ever before. But the South treated 
the brain work of the " Yankee mudsill" the same as they did the toil of the 
poor African. They stole it without paying for it, and the inventor of the 
instrument which gave the cotton growing States their supremacy in the 
markets of the world, and brought a constant flow of wealth to their doors, 
died a poor man. To return from this digression. Ten years after 
Whitney's cotton gin 'had been invented, Louisiana was added to the United 
States, and there was a great demand for slaves. The northern tier of slave 
States began to grow slaves for the southern market. Human beings were 
bred and used like cattle to be sold. Great God ! how could such things be 
in a country that boasted of freedom, and claimed to be a beacon to the 
oppressed in all nations? John C. Calhoun, for eight years Vice President of 
the United States, was the leader and apostle of the slave holders. He was 
a South Carolinian of great force and eloquence. He taught the people that 
slavery was good for the black. It was a civilizing and benign institution, 
which gave the slave a greater measure of intelligence than he could attain 
in freedom, and surrounded him with Christianizing influences which he never 
would have had in his native land. The inference was easily drawn that it 
was a Providential design for the ad\-ancement of both races. Hence 
opposition to this heaven-appointed institution was profane, and abolitionism 
was only a species of infidelity running rank in the North. This Calhoun 
taught ; and the people were eager to catch upon an excuse for their pet 
institution. Calhoun's last utterance in Congress was to the effect that the 
opposition to slavery would result in the destruction of the Union, and his 
latest conversation was upon the all-absorbing topic. The people of the 
South were taught from pulpit and press, from the rostrum, and in the 
schools, that it was a divine institution, ordained of Heaven, and they were 
willing enough to believe it. Laws were passed which were extremeh" 
barbarous. The slave was regarded not as a person, but a thing. He had 
no rights. The most holy ordinance of marriage, was set aside at the will of 
the master. Parents had no claim on the offspring of their own bodies. The 
child followed the condition of its mother no matter what that of the father 
might be. It was a statutory offense to teach a slave to read. The life of 
the slave was in the hand of his master, and a slave who would not submit to 



iiS HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1620 

a flogging by his master's order, might be shot. If a white man killed a 
slave, not his own, he could settle with the master of the slave, by paying 
his value. If a slave killed a white man, he might be shot without trial. 
No black, bond or free, could give testimony in court. There was a very 
slender show of protecting the right of the slave. The practice of the slave 
owners was not better than their laws. Families were separated ; husband'; 
from wives ; and children from parents. And the men and women were 
compelled to pair as often, and with whom their masters wished. The 
hunting of fugitive slaves became a business in which trained bloodhounds 
were used, and the owners of the slaves paying for those returned. 
Discussions against slavery were not permitted in the slave States ; and no 
papers, pamphlets, or books opposing the institution were allowed to find sale 
or to pass through the mails. To such an extreme of madness had the 
defenders and upholders of the system gone that many northern men were 
subjected to the most cruel indignities, and even in numerous instances to 
death. Shipmasters from northern ports were obliged to submit to seizure 
and search — the very thing for which the country had gone to war with 
England in 18 12. Mobs were raised and the North denounced. 

We do not wish to tear open the old wounds, but are writing sober 
history which is proven by the records of the past. There were good masters 
and Christian principles taught in many instances. The blacks under such 
conditions were contented and happy, but the death of their owner and the 
settlement of his estate might change all this in a day. The whole system 
was evil, and the stifled conscience of the enlightened people knew it to be 
so. 

When the State of Louisiana was admitted into the Union, in 1812, the 
vast northern part of the purchase from France was left in a territory without 
inhabitants. This was rich in natural resources. Iron, copper and coal enough 
to supply the earth, lay beneath its surface. Large rivers flowed in natural 
highways to the seas. The climate was genial and mild. Gradually settlers 
came flocking thither. The slave-holder with his human chattels was the first 
in the field, and the free settler turned aside to the northwest, from which 
slavery had been excluded by the act of the Continental Congress. So 
Missouri became a slave State. In 1818, there were sixty thousand persons 
in the Territory of Missouri, and she was knocking at the doors of Congress 
for admission. The slave States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and 
Mississippi, had been admitted before this without any controversy, but now 
the slave power was becoming too aggressive and reaching far to the north. 
The first great contest between the North and the South was fought over this 
question. For more than two years the conflict waged, and after a desperate 
fight in the Halls of Congress and before the people, resulted in the 
compromise measure. There had been heated debates which had agitated 
the whole country from Maine to Louisiana. The compromise was that 
slavery should be allowed in all States south of 36 degrees, 30 minutes north 
latitude, and excluded from all States and territories north of that latitude 



iS5o] THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 119 

This conflict ended with a decided victory for the slave power. The cotton 
f^in, the admission of Louisiana, and the teaching of Calhoun, had all had 
their effect in making the South a unit, and the slave power very strong in the 
ration. The institution required more territory for its expansion. And the 
]i(ilicy never changed. The agitation which had begun would rage over the 
country for fifty years, and find its solution only when the institution lay in 
ruins at the fall of a gigantic struggle inaugurated to uphold it by an 
attempted dissolution of the Union. Indeed this was the threat all through the 
controversy that had led to the compromises which were always in favor of 
the slave power. 

The active hostility of the North against slavery, began to grow in the 
time of John Ouincy Adams (1825-1829). General Andrew Jackson was 
President from 1829 to 1837 ; during a part of the same time, John C. Calhoun 
was Vice President. This question was the overshadowing one for this 
period. The South found a faithful ally in a certain class at the North. 
People in the North participated in gains from the slave trade in the South. 
The planter borrowed money in the North, and sold his cotton to the Northern 
manufacturer, and Northern ships were engaged in the cotton conveying 
trade. They were coining money out of the peculiar institution and no 
scruples of conscience about it. There was a wide spread opinion that the 
slave of the South was in better condition than the poorly paid laborer of 
I'lurope ; and that was all that could be asked. It was claimed that cotton 
could not be grown without slave labor. And thus the institution, intrenched 
in the constitution, became united in the South, and had its friends in the 
North. There seemed no hope for the poor black now, and the South began 
to rule in Congress with the same spirit that was displayed on the plantation. 
But there was an influence at work in the free States, at first weak and 
insignificant, but like the leaven hidden in the three measures of meal, 
affecting the whole mass. 

On the first day of January 1831, there appeared in Boston the first 
number of a paper, called the " Emancipator," published by a journeyman 
printer, William Lloyd Garrison. It was devoted to the abolition of slavery. 
It was an insignificant opening for a noble enterprise, which found its 
consummation in the necessity of a civil war that threatened the very existence 
of the Republic. But every word spoken or written upon the subject fouixl 
some willing hearer or ready reader, and gradually the influence reached the 
pulpit, the political caucus, and the Halls of Congress. An abolition society 
was formed at first composed of twelve members. In three years there were 
two hundred such organized, and in seven years increased to over two 
thousand anti-slavery societies. The contest began in earnest. The conflict 
was long and fiercely waged. 

The question of the tariff had its northern and southern side, and v. hen 
the nullifiers of South Carolina, in 1833 and '34, resisted the government, it 
was in the interest of their cherished institution, and in every measure that 
came before the National Congress the decision turned upon its aspect to t;;" 



I20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1620 

same question. There is another side to the annexation of Texas into the 
Union than the one we have presented. Texas was a large uninhabited tract 
on the southwest border of the country, and the South looked upon it as a 
desirable region for the spread of slavery. The climate was genial and the 
soil rich. It was of uncertain ownership, and after some negotiation it was 
recognized as belonging to Mexico. The United States offered to purchase 
it but Mexico refused to sell it. General Samuel Houston, of Virginia, with 
a number of adventurers from the southwest went to Texas and started a 
revolution, proclaimed a provisional government, and declared it independent. 
It was wanted for a slave State and Mexico had abolished slavery. Now the 
liberties of the new State must be defended with the sword, and General 
Samuel Houston with four hundred men imperfectly armed and equipped, at 
once became a patriot. Santa Anna had an army of five thousand men, and 
the Texans retreated. At San Jacinto Houston found two field pieces and 
turned like a lion upon his pursuer. He then followed and fell upon the 
unsuspecting Santa Anna as he was crossing the river, and poured grape and 
canister into his ranks. The Mexicans fled in hopeless rout, and Texas was a 
free State. The grateful Texans made Houston President of the Republic 
which 'he had thus saved. The independence of Texas, as we have said was 
acknowledged by the United States, Great Britain, France, and some other 
European countries, but Mexico still claimed the territory. A fierce debate 
arose in Congress, and the first proposal from Texas to enter the Union was 
rejected. The conflict became bitter. If Texas was admitted she would come 
as a slave State ; on this ground the North opposed it, and the South favored 
it. Daniel Webster said, " We all see that Texas will be a slave-holding State, 
and I frankly avow my unwillingness to do anything which shall extend the 
slavery of the African race on this continent, or add another slave-holding 
State to the Union." The Legislature of Mississippi said in resolutions on 
the subject, " The South does not possess a blessing with which the affections 
of her people are so closely entwined, and whose value is more highly 
appreciated. By the annexation of Texas, an equipoise of influence in the 
Halls of Congress will be secured which will furnish us a permanent guarantee 
of protection." Such was the plain statement of the question from both 
sides. The matter went to the people and resulted in a victory for the South. 
Texas was admitted, two votes for slavery were gained in the Senate, and 
unlimited room for the expansion of the darling institution. But the victory 
cost a war with a sister Republic, in which might was arrayed against right, 
and the United States won the questionable glory of conquering a weaker 
power and dismembering her territory to a vast extent. In this Mexican war 
' we find the names of many men who won their first military honors in the 
" country under the sun," and afterwards took a conspicuous place in 
history. Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant took part in this war ; but 
never met face to face until many years after, when they had a conference 
under an historic apple tree, on the Appomatox River, in Virginia, to 
arrange for the surrender of a brave but conquered army. General Franklin 



iS50] THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 121 

PiercC; and General Zachary Taylor were also in the Mexican war, and became 
Presidents of the United States. There was a strong opposition to this war_ 
and in the North the public opinion was instantly aroused in regard to the 
demands of the arrogant slave power. A young lawyer from Illinois, serving 
his first term in Congress, made a most stirring speech against it. He was 
Abraham Lincoln, who was destined to occupy a position next to Washington 
in the hearts of his countrymen. 

Thus far in the conflict of agitation and argument the South had 
gained at every move and in their delirium of madness considered them- 
selves safe to demand that their institution should be considered a national 
one. But there came other agencies into the field and the very war which 
had been waged in Mexico became under Providence the means of checking 
their supremacy and putting an end to the acquirement of any more 
slave States. Of the original thirteen States, Maryland, Virginia, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, were slave-holding. Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and 
Texas had been added to their number. But now there was to be a halt 
and the voice of Providence seemed to say "thus far shalt thou come and 
no further, and here shall thy proud waters be stayed." The discovery ot 
gold, and the rapid increase of population in California made up of men who 
came to carve out their fortunes, was unfavorable to the introduction of 
slavery and the people formed their Constitution and asked admission as a 
free State. This was a greivous disappointment to the slave States which 
had been so enthusiastic in pressing on the Mexican war, for the sake of 
gaining new States and new votes in the United States Senate, and a large 
area for the spread of slavery. The people from the North had flocked to the 
Pacific Coast and quickly decided the fate of the first State formed on 
tl:at coast. . 

But we will now resume the Hne of general history at the end of Mr. 
Polk's administration. General Zachary Ta}-lor, who had been conspicuous 
for his bravery and patriotism in the war with Mexico was elected to the 
Presidency by a large majority, as we have said. 




I 22 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1849 




ADMINISTRATION OF ZACHARY TAYLOR. 

.^!^HE twelfth President of the United States was inaugu- 
rated March 5th, 1849 — the 4th, being Sunday — and 
from the start had the sympathies and best wishes of 
a large majority of the people. The administration 
of the newly inaugurated incumbent promised to be 
one of unusual happiness and prosperity. 

The Constitution framed by the delegates of 
fornia at Monterey, was adopted by the convention on the 
day of September, 1849. The birth and formation of a 
State had been so sudden as to surprise the countrj', 
g been onlj- twenty months from the time of the discovery 
^ of gold. Edward Gilbert, and G. H. Wright, were sent as dele- 
cites to Congress and John C. Fremont, and William M. Gunn, 
c . I w ere elected Senators and appeared at Washington with the 

V .^^/ ,i»'v State Constitution in their hands, and presented a petition 
V' >j^ .?\, asking to be received as a free and independent State. Then 
"'>-^ ^/'" there came a severe struggle in the two Houses of Congress 
over the anti-slavery clause, and the excitement ran high all over the country. 
The old and oft-repeated threat of disunion was raised and again another 
compromise was effected in which the victory was on the side of the South. 
Henry Clay appeared as a peacemaker and implored the people to make 
any sacrifice but honor to preserve the Union. Daniel Webster warmly 
seconded the efforts of Mr. Clay and the compromise measure w^s passed 
September 9th, 1850. This is known as the Omnibus Bill and provided 
"for the admission of California as a free State ; second, the formation of 
the territory of Utah ; third, the formation of the territory offNew Mexico, 
and ten million dollars be paid to Texas for her claim on this territory ; 
fourth, the abolition of slaverj' in the District of Columbia: fifth, the fugitive 
slave law." This last measure was extremely unpopular in the north. Its 
provisions were excessively obnoxious to the whole non slave-holding States, 
and raised a storm of opposition, evasion and violation, which led to serious 
disturbance and much bitter strife. In the midst of this excitement the 
President died, and was succeeded by the Vice President, Millard Fillmore, 
July 9th, 1850. In the brief administration of General Taylor, there had 
been a number of important events which affected the issues of the 
impending Civil War. One of these was the invasion of Cuba by General 
Lopez, a native of that island, who had come to the United States and 
raised, organized and equipped a force in violation of the neutrality laws. 
He landed in Cuba the 19th of April, 1850, expecting to find the Cubans 
ready to rise and make a strike for freedom from Spain. But in this he 
was disappointed, and returned to the States to raise a larger force. Of 
this we shall speak further on. The other event was the establishment 
of Mormonism in the region called Utah, a large tract of country midway 



1853] 



THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 



between the Mississippi and the Pacific. The Mormons were a rehgious 
sect who had accepted the dehision of Joseph Smith in 1827, and had 
emigrated from the State of lUinois. They came across the plain and 
founded their settlement, after many hardships and trials, in the spot they 
called Deseret. They were fanatical in their notions, and had adopted a 
system of marriage which was antagonistic to the religious and moral 
sentiment of the whole country. They recognized the right and held to 
the practice of polygamy, or a plurality of wives. They spread their 
doctrines by means of missionaries over all parts of the world and came 
in large numbers to Utah. They have long had sufficient population to 
form a State but up to this writing — 1882 — have been kept out of the 
Union on account of their peculiar institution of polygamy. 

ADMINISTRATION OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 

yS^S^K^'HE compromise measure adopted as we have seen 
was the first measure of importance during his term 
of office. The cabinet of General Taylor resigned at 
the time of his death but the incoming President 
retained them in ofifice, and zealously carried out the 
policy which had been inaugurated by his predecessor. 
The Fugitive Slave Law was supported by the 
executive power, and occasioned wide-spread dissatisfaction all 
over the non-slave-holding States. Before this time, while 
the slave owner could claim, and recapture his so-called 
property when found, he could not demand the aid of 
northern officials, or citizens in aiding him in the search ; but 
'^O this law authorized liim to employ the executive arm of the 
}}y^ general government, in the search and delivery of his fugitive 
\kSr- slaves, and any citizens could be called upon to assist in 
X^^^W\^ this, when a United States Marshal demanded it. This was 
^ & at utter variance with the spirit of free institutions in the 
North, and the people of that section, and a large number in the South, 
were in favor of its repeal. This led to a fearful struggle on the part of 
both sides, to carry their points, and the final result was most disastrous 
to the nation. 

In the spring of 1851, there were enacted the most salutary changes in 
the Post Office laws, and a great reduction in rates of postage. The electric 
telegraph became perfected, and thousands of miles of wire, were binding 
cities, countries and States. Thus instantaneous communication could be 
held between distant points. Fulton and Morse, by their discoveries, had 
annihilated time and space, and bound the distant States into a more solid 
union, than had ever been known before. 

In the summer of 185 1, there was increased excitement over the 
proposed invasion of Cuba a second time, under General Lopez. The 




124 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1850 

watchfulness of the government was awakened, and the United States' 
marshals were ordered to arrest any persons suspected of violating the 
neutrality laws. The steamer Cleopatra, was detained in New York harbor, 
and several respectable citizens were arrested for complicity in the matter. 
General Lopez made his escape from the authorities, with four hundred and 
eighty men, and landed on the northern coast of Cuba, August iith. He 
left Colonel N. L. Crittenden, of Kentucky, with one hundred men at that 
point, and went into the interior with the rest. Crittenden with his party 
was captured ; taken to Havana, and shot on the i6th. Lopez was attacked 
on the 13th, and his band dispersed. He had been deceived in finding any 
of the natives ready to aid him. There were no indications of any uprising 
and he was a fugitive. He, with six of his men, was arrested on the 2Sth, 
and on September ist, 1851, they were all shot. 

In the Fall of 1S51, there was more accession of territory for the United 
States. Many millions of acres of land, were purchased of the Sioux Indians 
and they were removed to the reservation appointed for them. The territory 
of Minnesota was organized, and emigration soon filled it with a white 
population. The number of Representatives and Senators in Congress had 
increased so much since the war of 1812, that it now became necessary to 
enlarge the Capitol building in Washington, and the corner-stone was laid 
for a new wing July 4th, 185 1, by the President, with appropriate ceremonies. 

The expedition of Elisha Kent Kane, M.D., a surgeon in the United 
States Navy, started for the Arctic Ocean, in 1853, and resulted in many 
scientific discoveries which settled the fact of an open Polar Sea, but the 
object of the search, to find Sir John Franklin, was not accomplished. 

The visit of Louis Kossuth, an Hungarian patriot to this country during 
Mr. Fillmore's term of office, was an occasion of much interest in 
awakening the sympathies of the people, but the government did not give 
him the material aid he sought. 

There was much ill feeling engendered between the United States, and 
England, growing out of the Newfoundland fishery question ; but it was 
settled in October, 1853, without any rupture. 

An event of great commercial interest, occurred the same year in the 
distant East. Commodore Perry,— a brother of the hero of Lake Eric- 
made a treaty with the Government of Japan, in which it was agreed that 
part of that Empire should be opened to American commerce; the 
steamers from California to China, should be furnished with coal, and 
American sailors shipwrecked on the coast of Japan, should be hospitably 
treated by the natives. 

The relations between the United States and Spain, became involved, 
growing out of the Cuban matters, and for a time war was threatened. 
There was a feeling in Europe, that the United States wanted Cuba, to hold 
command of the entire Gulf of Mexico. England and France, asked that 
the United States enter into a treaty with them which should secure Cuba to 
Spain, and disavow, " now and forever hereafter, all intention to obtain 



iS53] 



THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 



125 



possession of the Island of Cuba." Edward E\-crctt, Secretary of State, 
answered this demand in a logical, and unanswerable argument, which was 
praised for its power and patriotism, and the subject was dropped. 

The most important event at the close of President Fillmore's term was 
the organization of the Territory of Washington, from the northern half of 
Oregon. This became a law on March 2d, 1853, two days before the newly 
elected President, General Franklin Pierce, took his seat. William R. King, 
of Alabama, had been elected Vice President, but failing health prevented 
him from entering upon the office. 



ADMINISTRATION OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

HE day that Mr. Pierce was inaugurated, March 4th, 
1853, there was a bitter storm of sleet and rain, the 
most severe that had ever been known in Washington, 
and augured a tempestuous administration. So it proved 
in the sequel. The first serious difficulty that arose was 
in regard to the boundary line between Mexico and the 
United States, and for a time war seemed inevitable. 
The Mexican army occupied the disputed territory, but the 
matter was amicably settled by peaceful negotiation, and friendly 
relations between the two republics have existed ever since. 
In the early part of this administration a large exploring 
expedition was sent to the Pacific coast of Asia, which was of 
O great importance in view of the establishment of numerous 
'[ j" -^ steamship lines between the ports of Asia and the United 
States. The question of connecting the Atlantic and the 
/ Pacific coast with railways, was agitated in connection with this 
^ 1^ subject. Four explorations were sent out by government to 
survey as many routes: one from the head waters of the Mississippi to 
Puget Sound ; one from the same river to the Pacific along the thirty-sixth 
parallel of latitude ; one by way of the Great Salt Lake to San Francisco, — 
which line was completed in 1869; the fourth from the lower Mississippi to 
Southern California. The explorations were made, and a vast amount of 
scientific, geographical and natural information was gained. 

A world's fair of Industry and Mechanical Arts was opened in New 
York, in the spring of 1853 and modelled after a similar one held in Hyde 
Park, London, England, in 1851. This gave great encouragement to the 
manufacturers and mechanical arts in America, and showed the nations of 
Europe what strides the young republic was making in the march of 
improvement. The lull \\'hich precedes a deadly storm had fallen upon the 
country at the time Congress met, in December, 1S53. There was an 
unprecedented calm in the political world, and the quiet of a settled peace 




126 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1853 

rested upon liie country, rippled only by a wave of trouble with Austria, 
which was soon settled. 

Important treaties with Mexico and the Central American States were in 
progress of settlement in regard to various inter-oceanic communications by 
railway or water. In the distant Pacific there was a kingdom whose 
inhabitants had become civilized, Christianized, and established in a govern- 
ment with a wide extent of commerce, in a single generation, namely, the 
Sandwich Islands. The king and his people desired to unite with the 
American States, and took steps to bring that about. France and England 
at once were jealous, and charged the whole scheme upon the American 
missionaries. The United States Minister and the missionaries denied that 
they had influenced the natives. The American government denied the 
right of foreign governments to interfere, and a treaty for the annexation 
of the Sandwich Islands was in preparation when King Kamchameha died, 
and his successor discontinued negotiations. These were afterward revived 
in 1866, by Queen Emma, when she returned from her visit to England. 

The slavery question which had been so quiet for a few years, suddenly 
presented itself just as Congress was sitting down to work on the important 
matters of commerce and internal improvement. Stephen Douglass, United 
States Senator froin Illinois, introduced a bill which aroused the people to 
the most intense excitement, and broke in upon the harmony of Congress. 
In the very center of our continent there was a vast domain embracing one 
fourth of all the public land of the country. It extended from thirty-seventh 
parallel of north latitude to the British possessions, and was the most fertile 
and best watered portion of America. The bill of Mr. Douglass provided 
that this territory should be organized into two territories — Kansas and 
Nebraska — and contained a provision to repeal the compromise of 1820, and 
allow the people to decide whether or not slavery should be permitted. The 
thunder storm broke over the country in renewed fury, and violent discussion 
arose in the North and South. The bill was discussed in the Senate from 
January 30th to March 3d, 1854, and thousands of remonstrances poured in 
from all parts of the North, but it passed the Senate by the decided vote of 
thirty-seven to fourteen. In the House of Representatives it was shorn of 
its worst features by amendments, and the final defeat seemed almost 
certain. A bill for the construction of a railroad to the Pacific, was 
reported to the Senate. A Homestead Act, giving one hundred and sixty 
acres of land from the public domain to any white male citizen who would 
occupy and improve the same for five years, was introduced in the House 
of Representatives. An amendment graduating the price of land was passed 
in its stead. Another victory for slavery. But the excitement quieted 
down till the 9th of May, when the Nebraska bill was called up again. At 
once the public pulse ran up to fever heat. The debate was fierce and 
intense ; the suspense of the people was fearful, but on the 22d of May, the 
bill as amended passed the House, was rushed to the Senate, adopted as 
amended, and signed by the President the last of May. Every barrier to the 



iS57] THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 127 

lawful spread of slavery over the public domain was now removed ; but the 
end was not yet. 

Another chapter in the controversy opens at once. Spain had a cause 
of grievance with the United States in regard to Cuba. The American 
steamship, Black Warrior, was seized in the port of Havana by the Cuban 
authorities. The Spanish government justified the act when the American 
]\Iinister at Madrid asked for redress. But the Cubans became alarmed and 
offered to give up the ship by the owners paying a fine of six thousand dollars. 
The owners complied under protest. The matter was amicably adjusted 
between Spain and the United States. The slave power used the irritation 
caused by this incident as a pretext for a gigantic scheme of propagating 
slavery. 

In 1S54 President Pierce appointed James Buchanan, then ambassador 
at London, James M. Mason, ambassador at Paris, and Mr. Soule ambassador 
at Madrid, as a commission to confer about the difficulties in Cuba, and to 
get possession of that island by purchase or otherwise. The Ostend Circular 
was issued by them, on the iSth of August, 1854, in which they said, "If 
Spain, actuated by pride and a stubborn sense of honor, should refuse to 
sell Cuba to the United States," then, " by every law, human and divine, 
we shall be justified in wresting it from Spain, if we possess the power." 
This is the argument of the highway robber, and why it should not have 
been rebuked at Washington can only be understood in the coming light 
of future events. In the light of these events, we learn that the stupendous 
design embraced the plot of "the Golden Circle," which was to establish an 
empire with Havana as its center, embracing an area of sixteen degrees 
of latitude and longitude, to take in the slave States, the West Indies, 
and a great part of Mexico and the Central American States. 

We find a little relief in turning from this subject for a moment to 
others. 

The boundary line between Mexico and the United States was 
established upon satisfactory terms, as we have already stated. The United 
-States was to pay ten millions of dollars, and be released from all obligation 
imposed in the former treaty of 1848. Seven millions on the nitification of 
the treaty and three millions when the line was established. These 
conditions were faithfully carried out. 

An important reciprocity treaty was made with Great Britain, which was 
of great advantage to both parties, and removed to a considerable extent 
the restrictions on free trtide, between the United States and Canada. The 
two governments agreed to the introduction of many articles, such as bread- 
stuff, coal, fish, and lumber, from one to the other, free of duty. England 
gave the United States the free use of the St. Lawrence, and the canals of 
the provinces, and in return, enjoyed the right of fishing, as far as the 
thirty-sixth degree of north latitude, and other privileges. This treaty 
continued until 1866. 

The attempt on the island of Cuba, had failed ; but there was started 



128 IISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1853 

at once an expedition to Central America to overcome a portion of the 
golden circle. This was organized by a warm personal friend of Jefferson 
Davis, Secretary of War, under the administration of Mr. Pierce. His name 
was William Walker, and he invaded the State of Nicaragua, on what is 
known as the Mosquito Coast, under the pretext that the British were 
attempting to take this coast, in violation of the principle of the " Monroe 
doctrine," many persons had emigrated hither from the Southwestern States. 
The guns of the United States Navy, had already awakened the echoes of 
these trojjical forests. The Mosquito King, had sold a large tract of land to 
two British subjects, and the emigrants led by Colonel H. L. Kenney, had 
settled there. The attention of our Minister to the State of Nicaragua, had 
been called to this matter, and our government could not wholly ignore the 
subject, but dealt -with it so mildly as to leave the inference that the 
emigrants would not be molested by the United States. Captain William 
Walker, went to the aid of Colonel Kenney, and with his band attempted 
to capture the city of Rivas, but his attack was repulsed, and he escaped 
to the coast. Walker returned, with armed followers, in August, 1855, and 
in September the emigrants assumed the independence of Nicaragua. Walker, 
after gaining some victories, placed General Revas, in the Presidential chair, 
of the independent State of Mosquito, and drove Colonel Kenney away. He 
strengthened his military power, and was recognized by a British consul. 
The other States of Central America, became frightened at this display of 
audacity, and combined to drive Walker out of his position. Costa Rica, 
formally declared war against this new power, and Walker raised a strong 
band, and shamelessly proclaimed, that he was there by invitation of the 
liberal party of Nicaragua. The army of Costa Rica came to attack him, 
and he overcame them. Walker then became arrogant, forced a loan from 
the people, and after Revas had abdicated the Presidency, Walker was 
elected President, by two-thirds of the popular votes. He was inaugurated 
June 24th, and our government hastened to recognize the new nation. It 
was the opening chapter in the grand plot. He held his position for two 
years, and finally was obliged to surrender his army of two hundred men, 
and flee to New Orleans. He attempted to raise another expedition, and 
on the 25th of November, landed at Puntas Arenas, where he was captured 
by Commodore Pauling, of the United States Navj% and with two hundred 
and thirty-two men, was taken to New York. President Buchanan privately 
commended Commodore Pauling for the act, but for "prudential reasons" 
/I'.vMf/)/ censured him in a special message to Congress, January 7th, 1858. 
Walker was discharged, and preached a new crusade against Nicaragua, all 
through the Southern States, collecting money to aid him in a new invasion. 
He sailed from New Orleans, on a third expedition, but was arrested, and 
tried before the United States Court, for " leaving port without a clearance," 
but was acquitted. Then he went to Central America, recommenced 
hostilities, was taken, and shot at Truxillo by the natives. Thus ended another 
act in the civil strife which was' raging. 



1857] THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 129 

In 1855, there was serious trouble with the Indians in Oregon, and 
Washington Territories, and the United States Army was sent to quell it, the 
aborigines overcame them, and a general massacre of white families followed. . 
In the season of 1855-56, it seemed that the combination of Indians was 
so strong that the settlers would have to abandon the territories named, but 
General Wool, was sent to Oregon, to organize against the savages, and the 
trouble was settled the following summer. 

A slight war-cloud arose betv/ecn Great Britain and the States, growing 
out of the enlistment of men in the United States for the Crimean war. 
This was done under the sanction of several British consuls in this countr)'. 
After some diplomatic correspondence, the offending consuls were dismissed 
and the British Parliament disavowed any complicity in the matter. 

The remaining events in the administration of Franklin Pierce, are full 
of matter having immediate reference to the great struggle going on in 
the country between the advocates of the spread of slavery, and the 
advocates of free soil. The contest was most intense and bitter in 
Congress, and in the political canvass. Silently there were unseen and 
complicated moral forces at work, but none the less potent because 
unseen. A great party sprung into existence in the North, and found 
many adherents in the South. John C. Fremont of California, and 
William L. Dayton, were the candidates of this party for President and 
Vice President. This was the Republican party. Another organization 
throughout the country known as the American or Know-Nothing party, who 
were opposed to the foreign element in the national politics, nominated 
Ex-President P""illmore and A. J. Donaldson of Tennessee, for the same 
offices. The Democratic party put James Buchanan and John C. 
Breckenridge, in nomination for the same. The political canvass of 1856, 
was the most exciting and antagonistic that the country had ever seen. 
The press, the pulpit and the rostrum, rang with the utterances of men who 
were alive to the questions of the hour. In every hamlet and village of the 
North, and most of the South, the party lines were distinctly drawn, and 
families, and neighborhoods were stirred with the agitation of the all 
absorbing subject. 

The day of the election came and the whole country waited in breathless 
anxiety for the returns. The election of James Buchanan for President, 
and John C. Breckenridge for Vice President, was the result. 




130 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1S53 




THE STRUGGLE IN KANSAS. 

ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 

jHE virtual repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 
led to a renewal of the contest between the two 
contending forces, and Kansas became the battle-ground 
of the decided opponents on the two sides. The people 
from the North began to pour into the new territory and 
it became apparent that they would largely outnumber 
the settlers from the slave States. The South was 
the first in the field and took possession of land in all parts. 
Missouri was near at hand and Kansas was easy of access, 
but the Southern people were not an emigrating class and 
their numbers came slowly. There were people enough to 
form a State in time, but the Northern settlers could outvote 
the Southern. The time for election was coming and some 
decisive steps must be taken. Large bodies of Missourians 
came in 1854, and when a delegate was chosen from the 
Territory out of twenty-nine hundred votes cast, seventeen 
'p*"' hundred were by Missourians who had no legal right to vote 
there. These men from " over the border " were in tents and had artillery 
with them as if arrayed for battle. A legislature was illegally chosen to 
meet at Pawnee City, one hundred miles from the Missouri line. This 
body immediately adjourned to meet on the very borders of that State 
and proceeded to enact laws in favor of slavery. They were vetoed by 
the governor and passed over his veto. The actual settlers of the territory 
appointed a convention to meet at Topeka, October 19th. Governor 
Ruden was nominated for Delegate to Congress and at once elected b)' 
the legal voters. On the 23d of the same month a convention chosen 
by the actual citizens of Kansas adopted a Constitution providing that it 
should be a free State, and asked admission to the Union under this 
instrument. Governor Ruden and the pro-slavery delegate appeared at 
Washington as contestants for seats. In the meanwhile January 17th, 1855, an 
election was held and the state officers were chosen b}- the legal voter- 
of the Territory. President Pierce, January 24th, sent a special message 
to Congress representing the action of the people in Kansas in forming a 
State government as a rebellion. 

Then there came a reign of terror for Kansas in which violence, blood- 
shed and fraud were rampant. The actual settlers resisted the efforts of 
their pro-slavery neighbors in forcing upon them a condition of things 
obnoxious to their sense of right and justice. Men were slain and driven 
out of their possessions for expressing anti-slavery sentiments and :b.e 



i857] THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 131 

struggle seemed to be like the death grapple of giants. Finally a committee 
of investigation was sent from Congress, and a majority of them agreed 
in their report to sustain the acts of the legal voters and refuse the frauds 
by which Whitfield had been elected and the pro-slavery constitution 
passed. The member of the Committee from Missouri alone dissented from 
the report, and the mission failed to accomplish any result either way. 
Then came the election of Buchanan a; fifteenth President of the 
United States. 

There had been an important case pending in the United States 
Supreme Court in which a decision had been reached before the election, 
but it was withheld from the public until the result of the popular vote 
should be known. It was the famous Drcd .Scott decision. Scott was 
a slave of a United States ofificer who had taken him into a free State 
and while there Scott had married the slave girl of another officer, both 
masters giving their consent. Two children had been born of this marriage 
on free soil. The master of Scott bought the wife of his slave, and 
brought the parents and their children to Missouri and held them all. 
Scott claimed his freedom on the ground of his involuntary service in a 
free State and the District Court had given him the case. It went to the 
Supreme Court of the State which reversed the decision. Then it came 
before the Supreme Court upon the question of jurisdiction solely. The 
Chief Justice of that court decided against Scott, and announced that no 
person "whose ancestors were imported into this country and sold as slaves" 
had any right to sue in the courts of the United States. The majority 
of the Court agreed with him. But after the election was decided they 
published their decision, and went beyond the question at issue to say 
that our Revolutionary fathers " for more than a century before " regarded 
the African race in America as "so far inferior, that they had ;/() rights 
li'kich the white man zcas bo;:nd to respect" and they were never thought 
or spoken of except as property. President Buchanan in his inaugural 
address tzuo days before this strange decision had been promulgated, 
referred to a mysterious something which would settle the slavery ques- 
tion " speedily and finally," and expressed the hope that thus the long 
agitation of this disturbing question was approaching its end! But the 
etid was not yet. Kansas was still a battle-ground and the contending 
parties had not given up the struggle. Peace was for a while restored, 
but the two forces were energetic and active. The question of a free or 
a slave State was not yet decided. 

The pro-slavery party had met in convention and framed a constitu- 
tion favorable to their side, at Lecompton, in September, 1S57. It was 
submitted to the people in this way. They could vote " For the consti- 
tution with slavery " or " For the Constitution without slavery ; " in any case 
they must vote for this Constitution, which was "all one way," and that 
protected slavery until 1864. Of course the free soil men would not vote 
at all, and the pro-slavery Constitution was adopted by a large majority. 



132 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1853 

An election for the territorial legislature was held under assurance 
from Governor Walker that the people should not be molested, and 
although there were many frauds the anti-slavery party l:ad a large 
majority. This legislature ordered that the Lecompton Constitution, 
should be sent to the people to vote "for"' or "against" the measure as 
a whole. It was rejected by over ten thousand majority. But in spite of 
this the President sent the Lecompton Constitution to the Senate, February 
2d, 1858, by whom it was once passed. The House of Representatives 
amended the bill by referring it again to the people of Kansas for 
acceptance or rejection. It was again rejected by over ten thousand 
majority, and finally Kansas was received into the Union as a free State. 
In the year 1862 the opinion of the Supreme Court was practically 
rejected as unsound by granting a black citizen a passport to travel in 
foreign countries. Such were some of the skirmishes which preceded the 
war of 1861-65. 

The " Southern Commercial Convention " convened at Vicksburg, voted 
on the nth of May, 1859, that "All laws. State or Federal, prohibiting the 
slave trade, ought to be abolished," a scheme was started to promote the 
African slave trade, under the specious disguise of an " African labor-supply 
Association." The withdrawal of American cruisers from the coast of 
Africa, was discussed in the United States Senate by Mr. Sidell, of Louisiana, 
and Mr. Buchanan protested against the right of British men-of-war to search 
suspected slave-traders who flew the United States flag. Ship-loads of slaves 
were landed in southern ports directly from Africa. The northern States 
had in many instances passed personal-liberty laws, restricting the Fugitive 
Slave law so far as they could do, without a rupture with the national law. 
This exasperated the other party. A National Emancipation Society was 
formed in Cleveland, Ohio, which aimed at the gradual extinction of the 
institution of slavery. 

The attention of the country was turned to the disturbing Mormon 
question. These people in Utah were rising in a revolution because they 
could not gain admission as a State. They destroj-ed the records of the 
United States District Court, and by orders of Brigham Young, their 
governor and spiritual guide, they were to look to him for all law. Colonel 
Cummings, the actual governor of the Territory, was sent with an army to 
enforce the United States law. The Mormons destro3'ed a provision train, 
committed sundry depredations, but finally Young surrendered the seal of 
the territory, and threatened to gather his people and leave the country 
rather than submit to Gentile rule. But he thought better of it, and in a 
short time Utah made another unsuccessful attempt to enter the Union. 

This little episode made scarcely any impression upon the great excitement 
that was agitating the country. The " Mormon War " had ended in smoke. 
The South American troubles were settled. Walker in Nicaragua, had ceased 
to interest the public mind, and Congress was engaged upon the Homestead 
^ct, the Pacific Railroad bills, Soldiers' Pensions for the war of 1 8 12, and 



1859] THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 133 

"Other peaceful and unexciting measures, when suddenly the smouldering 
^ame of excitement broke out afresh, and startled the land from Maine to 
Florida, and from ocean to ocean. John Brown, an honest enthusiast with 
a handful of followers had assembled at Harper's Ferr}-, Virginia, and with 
a written constitution, a secretary of war, a secretary of state, and a 
treasurer, he was ready to declare war with the government as far as slavery 
was concerned. His little band consisted of seventeen white men and five 
blacks. The whole land was informed by telegraph from Baltimore, that 
" an armed band of Abolitionists have full possession of the Government 
Arsenal, at Harper's Ferry." All the border States were in a ferment of 
anxiety ; their homes, their sacred altars, and their institutions were in danger. 
Governor Wise, of Virginia, summoned the State Militia, and General 
Robert E. Lee with United States troops and cannon, were hastened to 
the spot to suppress the bloody insurrection. Two of Brown's men were 
slain, and he was arrested. He was tried for exciting the slaves to 
insurrection, for treason and murder, found guilty, and shot on the 2d day 
of December, 1859. This was the raid of John Brown. The excitement 
and terror of Governor Wise, of Virginia, was very great. The most 
exaggerated rumors concerning the whole affair spread over the whole countr)% 
and Governor Wise prepared to repel the invasion which he was sure was 
being organized in the Northern States to sweep over Virginia. A thorough 
investigation developed the fact that Brown had less than twenty persons 
associated with him in his undertaking, and no open sympathizers in the 
whole land. 

The indications of the elections of 1858 and 1859, pointed to a loss of 
supremacy in the party which had held the national government so long, 
and something must be done to protect their own interests. The designing 
politicians had a gigantic plot in view, and while the great mass of the 
people in the South were a law-abiding people, who would abide by the 
constitution and the laws of their country if left to their own judgment, 
these men, comparatively few in number, deliberately set about the scheme 
■«f severing the Union, and establishing a Confederacy of States in the 
South. The time had come for their action, for the new party were growing 
strong. If they did not strike at the close of Mr. Buchanan's administration, 
although they might succeed in electing a President in sympathy with them, 
their power in Congress would be much weakened. Now if they could give 
the people of the South another cause for their action and succeed in "firing 
the Southern heart " to the sense of wrong they would gain a material 
advantage when the blow should fall. It would not do then to have their 
candidate of the Democratic party elected, and the first point was to assure 
the election of a Northern man to the office of President, by the vote of 
Northern States. How could this be done? Why, the answer was easy 
enough. Divide the grand old Democratic Party into two factions. Then 
with the plea that the Republican party was a sectional one, and would 
oppress the South, inflame the people of the slave-owning States with the 



134 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [185a 

idea that their State institutions were in danger, and arouse them to 
patriotism for the State. 

Now the people of the South were brave, her men were conscientious, 
and her upper classes were the peers of any nation in intelligence. The 
doctrines of Jefferson had been the theme of her orators for two generations, 
and the theory of State Sovereignty had taken root in a rich and productive 
soil, where it had grown to a stalwart tree. The training of years had taught 
the great mass of her people to believe that slavery was right, or if not 
morally right, was a necessary evil in the very condition of things. The 
North had agitated, discussed, and stirred up strife when the whole land had 
been prosperous and at peace, and had caused contention and unreasonable 
commotion with their internal affairs. What though the North disavowed 
any intention of interfering with slavery in the States where it then existed, 
the very agitation of the subject on their borders, made them restless and 
stirred up their slaves. The conspiracy of a few score men could magnify all 
this into a grievous wrong, and stir the warm blood of the South to the 
intensest heat, and unite the people in a common cause, as dear to them as that 
which moved the hearts of their Revolutionary sires. 

For months there had been indications that the convention which was 
to meet in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, would be a stormy one, 
and there were mutterings of the coming tempest, that should shake the 
country to its center. The gathering of the si.x hundred delegates, from all 
States in the Union, began on the 23d of April, i860; and from the hour of its 
opening, there was the strong pressure of the conspiracy felt. Caleb Cushing, 
was chairman, and Stephen A. Douglass of Illinois, was the strongest candidate 
whose name had been proposed before the convention. He had won the 
title of " Little Giant of the West. " His idea of popular sovereignty, had been 
engrafted into the platform of the party at Cincinnati four years before. 
The oppositions were in favor of a speedy adoption of the institution of 
slavery as a national institution, but the friends of Douglass were not ready 
for this. The convention, by a handsome majority, re-afifirmed the doctrine 
of popular sovereignty, and at once the plot was sprung. The leader of the 
delegation from Alabama, announced that he, and his colleagues, would 
formally withdraw from the convention. Other delegates followed, and a 
new convention was formed, in another hall. The dismemberment of the 
Democratic Party, was complete, and the plot was subsequently unmasked by 
Mr. Glenn, of Mississippi, who said in the new convention, " I tell Southern 
men here, and for them I tell the North, that in less than sixty days, you will 
find a united South, standing side by side with us." Charleston was the 
scene of great delight that night, for South Carolina understood what that 
utterance signified. The result of this secession was that John C. 
Breckenridge, was nominated by the National Democratic Party, and Stephen 
A. Douglass was the candidate of the Regular Democratic Party. The 
Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, for President, and 
Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, for Vice President. A fourth party. The 



iS6i] THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 135 

Constitutional American Party, which adopted the constitution of the United 
States for its platform, nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, for the Presidency. 
And the political contest was fought with such vigor as had never been 
known before. The Republican and the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic 
party, were antagonistically opposed, and the brunt of the struggle waged 
between them. Abraham Lincoln had said there is " an irrepressible conflict 
between Freedom, and Slavery." "The Republic cannot exist half slave, and 
half free," and " Freedom is the normal condition in all the Territories." 
This was the Republican side of the question. Mr. Breckenridge claimed 
that no power existed that might lawfully control slavery in the Territories, 
and it existed in full force wherever a slave-holder, and his slaves, entered 
it, and it was the duty of the National Government to protect it there. The 
issue was plain and decided ; no one need misunderstand it. Abraham 
Lincoln was elected by a majority of the votes in the electoral college; but 
since there were four candidates in the field he had a large MINORITY of the 
popular vote. This was a part of the plot, to claim that he was a sectional, 
and a minority President. There would be four months in which to mature 
and carry out the plans already working so well. 

Two years before this, William L. Yancey had written to a friend : 
" Organize committees all over the Cotton States ; fire the Southern heart ; 
instruct the Southern mind; give courage to each other; and at the proper 
moment, by one organized, concerted action, precipitate the Cotton States 
into revolution." Mr. Yancey had been an active public speaker in the South, 
during the canvass of i860, and when the result was known, the leaders in 
the South were as much elated over the election of Lincoln, as any one in 
the Republican party. Now the pretext that the platform, and the policy of 
the Republican party, and the utterances of the President elect, with the 
fact that he was a sectional candidate, elected by Northern votes, and these 
a minority of all the votes cast, led the people of the South to fear that he 
would be a usurper of their rights, and the people listened until their 
righteous indignation was stirred, and they were ready to make one bold and 
united stand for their inalienable rights. In the third year of the war, a 
Southern gentleman wrote in a letter to a friend, " Perhaps there never was 
a people more bewitched, beguiled and befooled, than we were when we 
went into this rebellion." 

In the President's Cabinet, there were three, if not four men, in active 
sympathy with the movement, and they were anxious to wait until the end of 
the term before the blow should be struck. There were arsenals, fortresses, 
custom houses, and other public property in the South. The forts and 
arsenals in the North were stripped of all movable military stores, and they 
were sent South. The United States Navy was scattered to the four 
quarters of the globe, and most of the ships in commission were beyond the 
reach of speedy recall ; others were lying in ordinary in the navy yards 
under the pretense of being repaired, but no work was being done upon 
them. The United States Army Officers in suspected sympathy with the 



13^' HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1850 

North, were sent to the extreme West, and the credit of the government was 
purposely injured. A small loan could not find a market at twelve per cent, 
interest. This was the condition of things. Some wanted to strike the 
blow as soon as the election was over ; others had another plan, which was this, 
as avowed by a disunionist who was in the plot. 

Near the close of Buchanan's term " we intend to take possession of the 
army and navy and the archi\-es of government ; Hot allow the electoral 
votes to be counted ; proclaim Buchanan Provisional President if he will do 
as we v.'ish, if not choose another, seize Harper's Ferry Arsenal and the 
Norfolk Navy Yard, and sending armed men from the former, and armed 
vessels from the latter, seize the city of Washington and establish a new 
government." Why was this not done? Lewis Cass was Secretary of State, 
and he discovered the treason of his associates ; but being powerless to 
avert the danger, he resigned. The Attorney General was promoted to be 
Secretary of State, and E. M. Stanton was called to be Attorney General. 
Secretaries Holt, Dix and Stanton, all of whom had been called into the 
Cabinet after its first formation, were loyal men, and brought a pressure upon 
the President that he could not withstand, and while he did nothing to 
openly aid the plot, he was obliged to make a show of sustaining the 
National government. 

The first step to open revolt was made by South Carolina. A convention 
of delegates in Charleston, adopted an Ordinance of Secession December 
20th, i860. This was signed by one hundred and seventy members. A 
similar ordinance was passed by the following States in the order given : 
Mississippi, January 9th, 1861 ; Florida, January loth ; Alabama, January 
iith; Georgia, Januar\- 19th; Louisiana, January 26th; Texas, February 
1st; Virginia, April 17th; Arkansas, May 6th ; North Carolina, May 20th; 
Tennessee, June 8th. 

On the fourth of February, 1861, delegates of si.x of the States above, met 
in Montgomery, Alabama, and formed a league styled THE CONFEDERATE 
States of America. A provisional Constitution was adopted at once, and 
Mr. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was chosen Provisional President, and 
Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice President. This organization of a 
few conspirators, — since no Ordinance of Secession was ever submitted to 
popular vote, — became a self-styled government, and made war on the United 
States ; seized its public property ; put a loan upon the markets of the world , 
issued letters of marque and reprisal, and raised armies to overthrow the 
government while yet its own instrument was in the presidential chair in 
Washington. And to increase the infamy, the Attorney General of the United 
States declared that the President had no right to interfere to prevent the 
])roperty from being seized, and so millions of dollars worth of public property 
fell into the hands of the South, without an arm being raised to prevent it. 

A Peace Convention was held in Washington, in January, 1861, but the 
Senators and Representatives, rejecting all offers of compromise that were pre- 



i86i] 



THE PERIOD OF AGITATION. 



^37 



sented from Congress, and from this Peace Convention, witiidrew as their States 
seceded under the pretext of being loyal to the State. 

The poor, distressed President Buchanan, had to do his best for the two 
months which remained of his term of office. The Southern members of his 
Cabinet, holding on to their positions as long as they could be of any service 
to the South, there and then leaving their chief to fill their places with 
Northern men. The first overt act was performed when Major Robert 
Anderson, a loyal Kentuckian, refused to give up Eort Sumter, into which 
he had retired from a weaker fort, Moultrie. 

The General-in-chief of the army was Lieutenant General Scott, who was 
enfeebled in body and mind from age, and although he was loyal he was 
unable to cope with the mighty problem. He, however, caused Mr. Lincoln 
to be warned of his danger, and the President elect came through Baltimore 
alone on his way to Washington, on the morning of February 23d, 1861, antl 
remained there until his inauguration, on the 4th of March. 




yi. 



THE Cim WAE, 1861-5, 




ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

HE sixteenth President of the United States was 
inducted into his office in the fear of ha\"ing his hfe 
taken at any moment, and General Scott had arranged 
the mihtary forces at his disposal in such a way tliat 
they could be called upon in any exigency that might 
arise from any suspected outbreak in the National 
Capitol. But all passed off quietly, and the President 
took the oath of office as his predecessors had done in the open 
air, at the east portico of the Capitol. The Senate confirmed 
his nominations at once. The new administration set itself at 
work with great zeal to ascertain the resources of the government 
^ and FOUND what we have already hinted at. The public credit 
^ was destroyed, but the now loyal Congress set at work to 
S'^ restore it. The Army and Navy were of little use ; of the 
>- former there were only 16,000 men, and most of them were on 
^'^^ the frontiers, sixteen forts with all their' equipments were in the 
hands of the South, and all the arsenals. The value of the 
public ]iroperty in the hands of tlie insurgents was thirt\- millions of dollars. 
There were forty-four vessels in commission, and of these only one, the 
Brooklyn, of twenty-five guns, was ready for immediate service, and a store 
ship. Many officers of the navy were Southern men and had resigned, 
leaving this branch of service very weak and crippled. The first gun fired at 
Sumter, April 12th, 1861, awoke the slumbering nation which had thought 
that all this array in the South was for effect. Before Major Anderson and 
his heroic band brought away the flag from Sumter, which he evacuated but 
did not surrender, there was a divided sentiment in the North; some thought 
that there could be no war and that a peaceful solution was still possible, 
others comprehended the spirit of the revolt and were satisfied that the 
struggle would produce blood-shed. The flag was taken from Sumter, on 
April 14th, and the sun went down that day with a united North arrayed 
against a united South. Such an uprising the land had not seen before. 
Men of all grades of .society, and every political and religious creed were 
ready to spring to arms in defense of the Union, at the call of the President 
two days later. Seventy-five thousand men were called for a three months' 
service, and were hurried to the front from all the Northern States. The six 
slave States, to whose governors the requisition for troops was sent, treated 
the whole subject with utter scorn. The crusade was spontaneous ; in every 
town and hamlet and village the Stars and Stripes were displayed, and brave 



i865] THE CIVIL WAR. 139 

men enlisted to don the union blue, and march to the front. Nothing like it 
had been known since the crusades of the Middle Ages to redeem the tomb 
of the Saviour from the Saracen. The Nation was in danger, and the old 
spirit of the fathers now glowed in the bosoms of their sons. But little did 
the)' know what was before them. Three months they thought would suffice 
to put down the revolt. Three months and they would come home as heroes, 
and a grateful country would honor them as the preservers of their nation. 
They soon found that the South was organized for war, and fighting at their 
own doors on the defensive. They had mistaken the spirit and temper of the 
men in arms against the government. 

In the South there was also a wide-spread mistake in regard to the 
North. They thought that the Northern people would not fight, and that 
their friends of the pro-slavery party there would make a strong resistance in 
their favor. Within seven days after the attack on Sumter, the South had 
an army in the field ready for battle, and the shout " on to Washington," was 
as enthusiastic as the cry '' on to Richmond " was in the North. The South 
and the North were of the same race, but under the sunny sky the former 
had warmed up to fever heat, and were ready for war at the instant ; the latter 
under a colder climate, was longer in being aroused, but when once in 
thorough earnest they had entered the strife they did so with the dogged 
determination to conquer or die. These were the two parties in the contest, 
and now in dead earnest, there could be no cessation in the deadly grapple 
until one or the other should succumb to superior strength and determination. 
Governor Pickens had said to the people of the cotton growing 
States, " Sow your seed in peace for old Virginia will have to bear the 
brunt of battle." So prompt was the uprising of the people in the North 
that the very next day after the issue of the call for troops several 
companies of militia arrived in Washington ready for the service. The 
Si.xth Regiment of Massachusetts \-olunteers were attacked in the streets 
of Baltimore, and the first blood shed on the 19th of April. Communica- 
tion by rail and telegraph was severed between that city and Washington 
and for several days the President and his Cabinet were virtually prisoners 
in their Capital, but General Benjamin Butler with Massachusetts men 
found a way there by water to Annapolis and the Relay House, and 
relieved the anxiety of suspense. Troops of hopeful men began to throng 
to the Capital, but they were none too soon, for an army was being 
collected in Northern Virginia to march to Washington and take the city. 
Harper's Ferry Arsenal and the Norfolk Navy Yard had fallen into the 
hands of the insurgents. 

There was an opinion on both sides that the war would be brief, and 
the South thought that she had only to march on to the Capital of the 
United States, seize, hold it and dictate terms of peace favorable to 
herself ; while the North regarded the Southern uprising as a formidable riot 
that could be crushed in ninety days. So little did either party under- 
stand the grit and persistency of the other. The truth was that six 



I40 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [i86r 

millions of people in the South, high spirited, possessing a fertile soil,, 
with a great industry upon which the manufactories of England were 
dependent for a supply, had risen against the government after months, if 
not years, of careful preparation. The problem for the loyal States, taken 
at a fearful disadvantage in matter of preparation, was to conquer. 
The new flag of " stars and bars " was floating over Alexandria in full 
view of the Capital. Preparations were being pushed to fortify Arlington 
Heights from which the Confederates could shell the city of Washington. 
At Manassas Junction a large army were encamped only thirty miles; 
away. It would seem to a casual observer that the proper course to- 
pursue would have been to act on the defensive, but the North were now fully 
aroused. They had been deceived by the threats of disunion so many 
times before that it had taken some time for them to realize the fact now, 
but once awake to its stupendous existence they bent all their energies 
to its suppression. A blockade of all the Southern ports was declared, 
and in a few weeks ships enough were manned to shut every Southern 
port of any considerable size. The government had gained much in a 
short time but there was a general cry for some decisive battle. The 
Secretary of War, at this time more sanguine of a short contest than he 
was a few months later, yielded to the popular pressure and ordered 
the imperfectly disciplined army of citizen soldiers to battle. General 
McDowell with an army variously estimated from thirty to forty thousand, 
marched from his quarters at Centerville, to Bull Run, Sunday, June 
17th, a distance of only ten miles. The volunteers, not yet inured to 
hardship, suffered much on this march, and when they reached the small 
stream which was to become famous as the scene of a great battle, they 
were met by the Confederate army of General Beauregard, and a general 
engagement took place in which the loss was heavy on both sides. The 
Union army was repulsed and fled in a precipitate route to W^ashington. 
The men were hurrying in wild confusion from the field of conflict. The 
defeat had become a general panic, and baggage trains, artillery, cavalrj^ 
infantry, and civilians were mi.xed in a promiscuous mass. The confederates 
had won the battle, but showed no disposition to follow up the advantage. 
In fact they had suffered as severely, and in the first general engage- 
ment each side was equally astonished at the force displayed on the 
other, and awoke to the consciousness of the fact that there was equal 
determination and bravery in both armies. The North were taught that 
the work of putting down the insurrection was a more stupendous task 
than had been imagined but their purpose was not shaken. The day 
after the battle Congress voted to raise five hundred million dollars and 
five hundred thousand men to put down the Confederates. A few days 
after a resolution was passed in both Houses, saying that it was a 
sacred duty of the nation to put down the revolt, from which no 
disaster should deter them, and to which they pledged every resource,, 
national and individual. Mr. Lincoln said : " Having chosen our courser 



1865] THE CIVIL WAR. 141 

without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God 
and go forward without fear and with manly hearts." The spirit of the 
North was fully aroused and no thought of any other issue came to 
them. Thousands of earnest youth and middle aged men thronged into the 
ranks, fermented with the same lofty spirit of patriotism. Many of the 
three months' men re-enlisted for three years. Regiments and brigades 
divisions and army corps, were organized, and the army was being rapidly 
disciplined and prepared for the fearful task imposed. Public credit was 
established and private patriotism was aroused. The money to pay the 
soldiers of a Connecticut Regiment was not ready on time, and a private 
in the ranks drew his check for one hundred thousand dollars to advance 
the pay of his comrades. Tjiis man was Elias Howe, Jr., of Bridgeport, 
the inventor of the sewing machine. He had a physical lameness which 
would have exempted him from military service, and -when a commission 
was offered to him refused it on the ground of his inabilit\- to perform 
the duties, but he enlisted as a private to encourage other men, \\ht) 
could perform good service, to do the same. After the disaster at Bull 
Run, General George B. McClellan was placed in command. He was 
a skillful engineer and organizer and set about the task of organizing 
this incongruous mass of patriotic volunteers into a well arranged and 
thoroughly disciplined army. His friends knew that he was the man to mould 
the army and make it Avhat it should be, an obedient, disciplined and well 
officered instrument of the government. In October, 1861, he was the 
commander of two hundred thousand fighting-men, the largest army the 
United States had ever known. The men loved him with an enthusiasm 
that had been unequalled since the days of Napoleon Bonaparte and the 
army delighted to call him " The young Napoleon of the West. " 

After the secession of Virginia the Confederate government removed 
its seat from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, and now the capitals- 
of the two contending forces were within a few hours travel of each other. 
The most severe fighting of the entire war was occasioned by each 
endeavoring to capture the capital of the other, and the brave obstinacy 
displayed in the defence of each. 

General Robert E. Lee was in chief command of the Confederate army. 
He had been educated at the United States Military Academy at West 
Point, and was an officer in the United States Army ^\■hen his native State, 
Virginia, joined her fortunes with the Confederacy, and following his sense of 
duty and honor, he allied his fortunes with those of his native State. He 
was a brave, conscientious and skillful general, and a calm, thoughtful, 
unpretending man. He contended almost always with a force superior in 
number and armament,— such was the fortunes of war— but he made up more 
than the deficiency by his genius and skill. By his consummate ability and 
devotion to the cause, the war was maintained after the hope of success was- 
gone, and when at length the overpowering resources, and numbers of the 
North compelled his surrender, he was esteemed even by his enemies, wha 



142 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1867 

were proud of this noble but erring son, who had been educated by the 
nation against which he had with mistaken judgment drawn his vaHant 
sword. 

Thomas Jackson, who earned the epithet of " Stonewall " Jackson, was 
the most celebrated of Lee's generals. He was an earnest religious man of 
stern uncompromising integrity, whicli won the admiration of friend and foe 
alike ; but he had gone into the war from a high sense of duty, and shows how 
a noble man can be sadly mistaken in judgment. He was scrupulously exact 
in his own private life, led a class in Sunday School, taught his negroes, and 
delivered lectures on the authenticity of the Scriptures. He firmly believed 
in the justness of slavery, and ordered his slaves to be flogged when he 
thought the circumstances required it. He proposed at the commencement 
of the war, " that no prisoners be taken," and when this inhuman opinion did 
not gain the sanction of the chief generals, he never ceased to his death to 
regret that this policy was not carried out. He was a brave, expert and 
successful general, and died regretted by honest men in both armies. 

In January, 1862, President Lincoln ordered General McClellan to 
advance with his finely equipped army upon the enemy, and by the end of 
March was ready to move. 

At the opening of the new year we will glance back over the history of 
the year 1861. Fort Sumter had been evacuated by Major Anderson, April 
14th. President Lincoln had issued his call for troops on the 15th. The si.xth 
Massachusetts had been mobbed in the streets of Baltimore, on the 19th. 
The offensive operations were begun by the United States Army on the i8th 
of May. The engagements of Big Bethel, Philippi, Fairfax Court House, 
Paterson Creek, Mather's Point, York Bridge, Laurel Hill, Rich Mountain, 
Beverly, Carrichford, Bunker Hill, Barboursville, and First Bull Run, all in 
Virginia, had been fought before the disaster at Bull Run, of which we have 
written. They were, for the most part but preliminary skirmishes, and in no 
sense decisive. The insurrection in Maryland had been strangled at its birth, 
and that State saved to the Union. In Missouri, three engagements of 
considerable importance had been fought at Boonsville, Carthage, and Briar 
Forks. The Confederate privateer Petrel was sunk by the St. Lawrence, 
August 1st. A battle was fought between General Lyon, of the Union 
army, and General McCulloch, of the Confederate army, at Dug Spring, 
Missouri, August 2d. Fort Fillmore was treacherously given up by Major 
Lynde, with seven hundred and fifty men, the same day in New Me.xico. 
Lovettsville, Grafton, Boone Court House, Carnifax, Lucas Bend, Lewinsville, 
Elk Water, Cheat Mountain, Damstown, Romney Fall Church, Chapmansville, 
Greenbriar, Bolivar, Balls Bluff, Vienna and Drainsville, all in Virginia, were 
places where more or less blood was shed during the opening year of the war. 
In the State of Missouri, whose governor was determined to take her out of 
the Union, a severe contest ensued, which resulted in driving the 
Confederates from her borders, and preserving her to the United States. 
Potosi, Wilson Creek, Charlestown, Lexington, Blue Mill Landing, Papinsville, 



.865] 



THE CIVIL WAR. 



143 



Fredericktown, Springfield, Belmont, Mount Sion, were the names of places 
where engagements were fought in that State. 

In Kentucky the Confederates gained a slight foothold in the southern 
and western part, and under the show of military power they held a 
convention, and passed an ordinance of secession and delegates were chosen 
to the Confederate Congress. A skirmish was fought at Buffalo Hill, and 
another at Hemington in that State, in October, and battles at Wildcat, 
Cromwell, Saratoga, Piketown, during October and the early part of 
November. On the 7th of November, the Union forces captured and held 
the forts on Hilton's Head, South Carolina. 

In the fall of 1861, there occurred an event which for a time threatened to 
cause a rupture with Great Britain. The Confederate government had sent 
two commissioners with credentials as ambassadors to the English and French 
courts, which had already acceded belligerent rights to " The Confederate 
States of America." These gentlemen, each with his secretary, had succeeded 
in running the blockade on the stormy night of October 12th, 1861, and 
proceeded to Cuba. Here they took passage on the British steamer Trent for 
St. Thomas, intending to take the regular packet steamer from that port, but 
the United States vessel, San Jacinto, Captain Charles Wilkes, took them 
from the Troit and carried them to Boston, where they were incarcerated in 
Fort Warren, then used as a military prison. This act was in the strictest 
accord with the British interpretation and practice of the question for which 
the war of 1812 was fought, and which was left undecided in the treaty of 
peace at the close of that war. But it was in direct opposition to the avowed 
theory and policy of the American government. England now claimed, as 
the Americans claimed in 1S12, that this was a violation of the rights of 
neutral powers, and after fifty years, in which she had strenuously maintained 
the right to do the very thing which the United States had now done, that 
proud nation acknowledged that the principle was wrong. A demand was 
made for the return of the ambassadors, James M. Mason and John Slidell. 
The American government were too glad to vindicate their policy, and to rid 
themselves of the burden, by giving up the men on January ist, 1862. The 
ambassadors did not gain the advantage they sought, and the event silenced 
forever the arrogant claim of England to search the ships of neutrals. 




144 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1861 




THE OPERATIONS OF 1862. 

'HE year 1862 opened with a design on foot to establish 
the national power on the Atlantic coast of the Southern 
States. A secret expedition under Command of Major.. 
General A. E. Burnside, sailed from Hampton Roads 
January nth. The result was that Roanoke Island 
and the coast of Albemarle Sound fell into the hands 
of the Union forces. The Confederate force fled from 
Royal, South Carolina, January 2d. 

Kentucky there had been a fight near Prestonburg, 
in which General J. A. Garfield, defeated the disunion General 
r Humphrey Murphy, January loth. General Thomas had defeated 
> General Zollicoffer in a battle at Mill Spring, Kentucky, where 
fs) the latter was killed. Kentucky was saved and a path of 
'''P/W escape made for the Union men in East Tennessee by these 
,^^^ two decisive victories. The disunion army fled into Tennessee. 
■^'w ®\\2^ A flotilla of gun boats had been built and equipped under General 
^ ^ John C. Fremont, of California fame, at Cairo on the Mississippi. 
Commodore A. H. Foote, had been put in command. An expedition against 
Forts Henry and Donaldson had been organized, and General U. S. Grant 
had been put in chief command. Commodore Foote was ordered to the 
Tennessee River with his gun boats. February 3d, he was in front of Fort 
Henry, and on the 6th, the fort surrendered. General Grant made immediate 
preparation to attack Fort Donaldson, while Commodore Foote hurried back 
to Cairo to obtain mortar guns for the siege. The battle began on the 
13th, was renewed on the two following days and the fort surrendered 
on the i6th with thirteen thousand three hundred prisoners of war. 
The Confederate Generals, Floj-d and Pillow, fled the night before and 
left General Buchner, who was the only brave man of the three to 
surrender the fort. This was the first brilliant victory for General Grant 
during the war. The fall of Fort Donaldson was a heavy blow to the 
Confederates, but the news caused the most wide-spread rejoicing all 
through the loyal States. It was regarded as a crushing blow to the 
Southern cause, and lost to them the States of Missouri, Kentucky and 
all northern and middle Tennessee. 

The campaign in Arkansas resulted after a few skirmishes in the 
decisive victory for the Union forces under General Sigel at Pea Ridge, 
on the 7th of February 1862, in which the five disunion generals. Van 
Dorn, McCulloch, Mcintosh, Pike and Price were engaged. McCulloch and 
Mcintosh were mortally wounded and Van Dorn retired behind the 
mountains. The Confederate army lost thirty-four hundred men in killed 
and wounded, and sixteen hundred prisoners. 

While these important victories were going on in the West there 



1865] THE CIVIL WAR. 145 

were events of interest occurring in Virginia. The Confederates liad 
taken an old frigate which they sheatlied in iron and roofed her with 
iron rails and fitted her up as a formidable iron clad. There was no 
ship in the United States Navy which could withstand her attack. On the 
8th of March she steamed down to assault the fleet in Hampton Roads. 
This monster, which had been re-christened the Mcrriinac, came into 
the very midst of the fleet. Not a man was seen on board, not a gun 
was fired, and the broadsides poured in upon her rolled off her iron 
sides and left her unharmed. She destroyed the Congress and Ctunbcrland, 
-and no power could withstand her assault. The Union fleet was apparently 
doomed, and this monster could devastate the whole Northern coast. 
There were anxious hearts that clay through all the North as the news 
of this encounter flew on the wires over the country. The Confederates 
had the advantage of them now, and could rest on their laurels for 
one night at least. The next day she came down the James to 
complete her work of destruction so well begun the day before. But 
at midnight a mysterious something came in from the sea, lighted on 
her way by the burning Congress. The thing looked like a cheese box 
on a raft ; and there had been nothing like it in the whole history of 
na\-al warfare. It \\-as the Monitor on her trial trip from New York. 
That day was the trial of strength between the inventive genius of the 
two sections. The Yankee cheese box won the prize. In the novel naval 
engagement she was the victor and the monster crawled back to her 
moorings disabled and useless. The United States Navy had found a 
champion that could defend her from the monster that but yesterday 
threatened her annihilation. 

The army of the Potomac was transferred to Fortress Monroe, and 
prepared to sail up the James river. General Banks was sent up the 
Shenandoah to attract the attention of General Stonewall Jackson. The 
battle of Winchester was fought on the 23d of March and resulted in a 
victor)- for the Union arms. 

The month of May found General Fremont in the mountains of 
West Virginia ; General Ranks at Strasburg in the Shenandoah valley ; 
and General McDowell at Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock, for the two 
fold purpose of defending Washington and helping McClellan. The swift 
moving General Ewell had joined Jackson, and on May 8th struck Fremont 
a heavy blow, and Ma}- 23d sent Banks flying down the valley to Winchester. 
Then the tide turned and Ewell was driven back, pursued by Fremont 
and Shields. Jackson rallied his forces, joined Ewell, and on the 9th of 
June the national armies began their second great race down the Shenandoah, 
followed by the Confederates. 

The two main armies were face to face with each other on the first of 

June, within six miles of the Confederate Capital. The army of the Union 

were anxious to enter the city of Richmond at once, and the time had 

•come for a decisive blow. The leader was wanting, McClellan's habitual 

10 



146 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 

caution and desire to save human life led him to be over anxious 
for the safety of the army, every man of which loved him. They were 
burning to win glory and honor, and were in good condition to march 
directly into the city. Lincoln urged him daily to make the attack, but 
still he hesitated. The Confederates came out to attack him, and the 
general made preparation to retreat to the shelter of the gun boats on 
the James river. He would save his army or " at least die with it and 
share its fate." The army of patriots were anxious to fight on the offensive 
and could decide the question of its own fate but the general, over- 
solicitous, moved away from the enemy, and his retreating army was daily 
attcked by the Confederates, and as often gained the victory ; but still they 
fell back for seven days. Once they drove the enemy fleeing before them 
and the soldiers demanded to be led into Richmond. The army was 
strong enough but its leader was weak. McClellan was loyal and desired 
the success of the North, nor would we for an instant hint at any improper 
motives. McClellan was such a man as aroused the enthusiasm of the 
rank and file, and at the same time hesitated to lead them to death. 
He lost fifteen thousand men in seven days fight' from Gains' Mills, June 
28th, to July 3d, 1862. The army of Generel Lee had sustained a loss 
even larger, and when McClellan was fortifying his camp on the James, 
Lee was glad to rest his shattered and discomfited troops behind the 
fortifications of Richmond. The retreat was a masterly and skillful one, 
and showed magnificent generalship no doubt, but neither the army nor 
the country were in a humor to appreciate the greatness of a General 
whose skill consisted in conducting a successful flight. The prize had been 
within the grasp of a hand powerful enough to seize it, but the brain 
that directed that power was conservative and cautious, and therefore the 
city of Richmond was to be a bone of contention between the magnifi- 
cent army of the Potomac and the brave army of Virginia for long years 
to come. The Confederates were exultant and the North sadly disappointed 
with the results of the campaign of the Spring of 1862. 

We will turn in this swiftly changing panorama to the West. The 
silent, determined and persistent General U. S. Grant, was doing valiant 
service for the Union army, and rising in rank and influence. After the fall of 
Fort Donaldson, Johnston saw that he could only save the Confederate army 
by evacuating Bowling Green, and Columbus, Kentucky ; he then marched 
his forces to Nashville, Tennessee, closely followed by General Buell, and at 
the same time the national gunboats moved up the Tennessee River from Fort 
Donaldson. Nashville, Tennessee, was surrendered to the Union forces 
February 26th, and on March 4th, Andrew Johnson was appointed Military 
Governor, with the rank of Brigadier-General. Columbus w'as taken by 
Commodore Foote and General W. T. Sherman, March 4th, 1862. Island 
Number Ten, a thousand miles from New Orleans, was now regarded as the 
key to the Mississippi River, and was strongly fortified by the Confederates. 
This was flanked by General Pope, and Commodore Foote hammered away at 



iS65] THE CIVIL WAR. 147 

the defenses from his gun-boats until it surrendered, April 7th. This was 
another heavy blow to the Confederates, and they never recovered from it. 
General Grant had sent the gun-boats up the winding Tennessee River, from 
Fort Henry, and they penetrated the country as far as Florence, Alabama, 
under Lieutenant Commander Phelps, United States Navy, who found an 
intense loyal feeling among the people. The army were anxious to advance 
to their aid, and General Grant attempted to do this. The objective point 
was Corinth, a city on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. The large 
Union army was encamped at Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, about twenty 
miles from Corinth, on the first of April. General Buell was trying to join 
Grant with his forces from Nashville, leaving General Ne}-ley in command in 
that city. Huntsville was captured April nth, by a part of Buell's army 
under General Mitchell. The battle of Shiloh had been fought and won by 
Grant, on the 7th. The Southern army had advanced from Corinth to within 
four miles of the Union army unperceived on the morning of the si.xth, 
Sunday, and fell upon Generals Sherman, and Prentice, — the battle waged all 
day, and the Union army at night was driven discomfited to the shelter of 
their gun-boats, on the Tennessee. Beauregard telegraphed a shout of 
victory to his chief at Richmond, but Buell and Lew Wallace arrived in the 
night, crossed the river, and Grant's army was saved. The next day the 
fight was renewed. Wallace charged on the Confederate left, and pressed 
Beauregard back. The battle became general, and the Southerners were 
driven from the ground that they had taken the day before. Then they fled 
in precipitate rout, covered by a strong rear guard. The South lost ten 
thousand men, the North fifteen thousand, and that night the Union army 
buried the dead on the battle field, while the enemy fled to Corinth. General 
Halleck came from St. Louis, April 12th, and assumed command, but instead 
of marching directly upon Corinth, he moved by slow approaches with spade 
and pick, fortifying as he advanced. On the morning of May 30th, when he 
sent out skirmishers " to feel the enemy's position," there were no enemies, 
for Corinth had been evacuated, and the city burned. 

At the mouth of the Great River the Union Squadron, with General 
Butler, had captured Forts Jackson and Philip, and entered the Mississippi. 
New Orleans had been occupied by General Butler, who declared military law 
April 29th. Commodore Foote with his flotilla, besieged Fort Pillow, May 
lOth, and on the 4th of June the forces fled to Memphis, where Commodore 
Davis, who had succeeded Commodore Foote, had a severe engagement on 
June 6th, but soon after the flag of the United States waved over the city of 
Memphis. All this was going on in the west while the army of the Potomac 
was moving so cautiously under General McClellan. 

The e.xpedition to North Carolina was accomplishing much in gaining 
that State back to national control. The battle of Newberne was fought 
on March 8th, and a fight occurred upon the nth of April, near Elizabeth 
City. The Northern troops had taken the coast, and were moving into the 
interior. The national forces captured Fort Mason, at the entrance of 



148 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 

Beaufort Harbor, April 25, and now held undisputed sway from the Dismal 
Swamp to Cape Fear River. 

While General Burnside was engaged in this work in North Carolina, 
General Sherman and Commodore Dupont went upon a similar expedition to 
the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. Fort Pulaski was taken after a 
severe pounding, April 12, and this commanded the entrance to the Savannah 
River. The coast of Florida was easily seized in the early winter. Fort 
Clinch, the first of the national forts re-occupied since their seizure, was taken 
in February, Jacksonville, Florida, March nth, St. Augustine and Pensacola, 
opposite Fort Pickens, which never had been in possession of the South, were 
■ captured in March. Thus in less than a year from the fall of Sumter, the 
United States was in possession of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast, with the 
exception of Charleston harbor, as far as Pensacola bay. 

The scene will change again to the army of the Potomac. General 
McClellan had disappointed the country, and when the news of the disasters 
to the Union forces, in front of Richmond, swept over the North, the hearts 
of the people sank within them. The commander assured the government, 
three days after the battle of Malvern Hill, that he did not have "over fifty 
thousand men with their colors." What had become of the one hundred and 
sixty thousand men who had been sent to him within the one hundred days 
previous? Lincoln with an anxious heart hastened to the head-quarters of 
McClellan, to solve this question and answer his request for more troops. 
The result of this conference was that Lincoln found forty thousand men 
more than the general had reported, and yet there were seventy-five thousand 
men missing. Orders were given to remove this army from the Peninsula, 
and concentrate it before Washington, but McClellan was opposed to this 
plan, and he was slow to obey. 

In the month of August, 1862, the national Capitol was in great danger. 
The battle of Cedar Mountain had been fought on the 9th of that month. 
In this fight the national troops were under command of General Banks. 
They were driven back, but by the timely reinforcement of General Rickett's 
division, were able to check the Confederate advance in one of the most 
desperate encounters of the war. Both sides claimed the victory. General 
Pope was reinforced by Burnside's army, and moved to the Rapidan, 
intending to hold that position until the arrival of McClellan, but was driven 
back by Lee. The Confederate general found that he could not force a 
passage in this direction, and he moved toward the mountains to outflank 
Pope. This general did his best to thwart the plan of Lee, but his army was 
much weakened, and McClellan protesting against moving from the James 
delayed reinforcements from that quarter. Pope, therefore, concentrated his 
forces at Rappahannock Station, August 23d, 1862, that he might be able to 
fall with a superior force, upon the flanking army under " Stonewall " Jackson. 
This adroit and skillful general, with accustomed swiftness, crossed the Bull 
Run Mountain at Thoroughfare Gap, and placed his immense force between 
Pope and Washington. His cavalry swept as far as Fairfax Court House 



1865] THE CIVIL WAR. 149 

and Centcrville, and his main army were at Manassas, waiting for a heavy 
cokimn under Longstreet, who was advancing. The t\\'o armies were both of 
them in danger of annihilation. Pope mo\-ed with quickness to attack and 
capture Jackson, before Longstreet could come up. But the latter succeeded 
in joining Jackson, and Pope, who was now assured that he need no longer 
wait for reinforcements from McClellan, saw that he must fight. The second 
battle at Hull Run, was fought with great loss and defeat to the Union arm}', 
August 30th. Pope fell back to Centerville, where he was joined by 
Franklin, and Sumner. Lee did not now attack them, but made another 
flank movement August 31st. This resulted in a battle September ist, at 
Chantilly, where Generals Philip Kearney and Stevens were killed, and the 
whole army driven within the fortifications of Washington. 

The Confederates now had the advantage and determined to follow it up. 
The time had come when they could make a formidable advance upon 
Washington, and carry the war into the land of the enemy. September 7th, 
Lee crossed the Potomac with almost his entire force, and marched into 
Maryland with the belief that thousands of people in that State would join 
his army and fight, to redeem her from the Northern army. In this he was 
sadly disappointed. McClellan with the Armj^ of the Potomac, numbering 
90,000 came to the rescue, and the army of Virginia was merged into it. 
McClellan moved cautiousl)'; but in the meantime Burnsidc had fought and 
won the battle of South Mountain, in which the gallant General Reno was 
killed. Harper's Ferry was captured by Lee's army, where Colonel D. H. 
Miles, a Virginian, surrendered nearly 1200 United States troops. The 
crisis was coming and the issue must be met at Antietam. The Confederates 
had possession of the right bank of the stream, and the Union army the left. 
The contest opened with artillery firing from the former. McClellan was not 
ready to move until noon. Hooker crossed the Antietam and had a 
successful fight on the Confederate left, and rested on his arms that night to 
renew the fight in the morning. The fight opened early the next day, by 
Hooper charging on Lee's left again ; Burnside on the right, was doing good 
execution against Longstreet. The contest waged all day, and at night the 
Confederate army retreated from the scene. Fourteen thousand fresh troops 
came to the aid of McClellan, and it would seem as if he might have followed 
up his advantage, and taken the Confederates ; but when he was ready to 
move, thirty-six hours later, Lee's shattered and broken army were behind 
their own defenses on the south side of the Potomac, whither they had 
hastened in the cover of darkness, the night before. McClellan came to 
Harper's Ferry, which he found abandoned by the Confederates, and ten days 
after the battle of Antietam, while the North were hourly expecting to hear 
that his victorious army had pursued and overcome Lee, he coolly declared his 
intention to remain where he was, and " attack the enemy should he attempt 
to re-cross into Mar^'Iand." October 1st, President Lincoln, instructed the 
Commander of the Army of the Potomac, to move at once across the river , 
but twenty days were spent in correspondence, during which the beautiful 



150 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [iS6i 

October weather, which was favorable for military mo\'ements had passed, 
and Lee's army was resting, recruiting and fortifying. Then, November 2d, 
McClellan announced that his whole army were in Virginia, prepared to move 
southward, on the east side of the Blue Ridge, while Lee was on the west 
side. The patience of the government and the loyal people of the North 
was exhausted, and McClellan was relieved November 5th, and General A. E. 
Burnside was placed in command. This ended the military career of Major- 
General George B. McClellan, the beloved commander of the army of the 
Potomac, who was over-cautious and careful of the lives of his men. 

General Burnside reorganized the army and formed a plan to capture 
Richmond. For this purpose he made his base of supplies at Acquina 
Creek, and took position at Fredericksburg, from which he intended to 
advance. But before he was prepared to cross the Rappahannock, Lee 
appeared with an army 80,000 strong, on the heights in the rear of the city, 
and destroyed all the bridges on the river. Burnside was obliged to cross 
upon pontoon bridges. The Union army advanced under a heavy fire, and 
a bloody battle ensued, which lasted from the 13th, to the i6th of December, 
and the Unionists were defeated with great slaughter. Lee took possession 
of the city, and the National forces retired under cover of darkness. 
Burnside was superseded by General Joseph Hooker January 26th, 1863, 
when the army were in winter-quarters. We must here leave them, \\'hile we 
turn our attention to the stirring events on the Mississippi. We had left 
the Northern army June ist, 1862, in possession of the river, from its 
mouth to New Orleans, and from its sources to Memphis, Tennessee. 
Colonel John H. Morgan, of Tennessee, had organized an independent band 
for guerilla warfare, and was overrunning his native State with his horsemen, 
and making long and swift raids through the country in all directions 
preparatory to an invasion of Tennessee and Kentucky by a Confederate 
force. By these raids much damage was done to private and public 
property, and many exactions were wrung from, the people. General E. 
Kirby Smith, with a large Confederate force, entered Kentucky from East 
Tennessee, and prepared to march upon Frankfort, the capital. A desperate 
battle was fought August 30th at Richmond, Kentucky, in which the Union 
army under General Manson was defeated. The affrighted Legislature in 
session at Frankfort, fled to Louisville. But the Southern army pressed on 
to Lexington with the intention of crossing the Ohio River and destroying 
the city of Cincinnati. They found their way obstructed by strong 
fortifications on the south side of the river and a force under General 
Lew Wallace. Smith then turned toward Frankfort, captured the city, 
and waited for General Bragg. Bragg crossed the Cumberland River 
September 5th with 8000 Confederates, and September 14th the advance 
guard was repulsed by Colonel T. J. Wilder; but two days after Colonel 
Wilder was compelled to surrender to a superior force. Thus far the 
Southern army had had it their own way, but now there came a change ; 
General Buell fell upon the combined armies of Bragg and Smith at 



i86s] THE CIVIL WAR. 151 

Pcrryville, and after a severe fight, drove the Confederates from Kentucky, 
with severe loss, October 8th. General Buell like General McClellan was too 
cautious and careful. If he had acted with vigor and decision, the invasion 
of Smith and Bragg, would have been crushed at once by the capture of the 
entire force. As it was it was harmful rather than beneficial to the Southern 
cause, and General Bragg who was responsible for it, was relieved of his 
command by the Confederates. 

While all this was going on in Kentucky, General Van Dorn, and Price, 
were invading Tennessee with another Confederate force. General Rosecrans 
with a small force overcame the Confederates in a closely contested battle at 
luka Springs, September 19th. The beaten army fled southward, and at 
Ripley were reinforced, and prepared to attack Corinth, now held by Ros- 
ecrans, and in both engagements of October 2d and 3d, the Southern army 
was repulsed, and finally driven back to Ripley. Then there came a period of 
quiet in the department over which General Grant was in command. 

In the meantime there were important events transpiring on the Great 
River. The forces under Admiral Farragut, and General Butler, had mo\-ed 
up the river and taken Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, as early as 
May 7th. Farragut's vessels ran up to Vicksburg and exchanged salutations 
with the gun-boats of Admiral Davis, which came down from Memphis, 
June 29th. Farragut with the Hartford, and other vessels, ran by the forts 
of Vicksburg and joined the fleet above. He besieged the city, and 
attempted to cut a canal across the peninsula, and avoid it altogether, but 
this failed, and the fleet returned down the river. There was an attack by 
the Confederate troops under General Breckenridge, at Baton Rouge. The 
Union General Williams was killed, but the assailants were repulsed. The 
Confederate ram, Arkansas, was destroyed by the United States vessel i;.f.f(U-, 
Captain Porter commander, August 6th. Captain Porter went up the river to 
reconnoitre and had a sharp fight at Port Hudson, September 7th. A large 
part of Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi, was brought under 
control before the close of the year. General Butler was relieved of the 
command of New Orleans, by General Banks, December i6th. 

The account of one more battle will end the record for the year 
1862. General Rosecrans had taken the sadly demoralized ami)' of the 
Cumberland, thoroughly reorganized and disciplined it. It was in the 
vicinity of Bowling Green when he took command. Bragg had a large 
force at Stone River, or Murfreesborough, and was preparing to annihilate 
the Union army. A most sanguinary conflict was begun on the 31st of 
December, and was fought all day. At night the Unionists were so 
completely overcome that Bragg expected that they would seek safety in 
flight during the darkness, but to his astonishment they were still in his front, 
ready to renew the encounter. The contest was fierce and sharp, when the 
day seemed to be irretrievably lost to the North, a charge of seven 
regiments under the leadership of Brigadier-General W. B. Hargen, sent the 
Confederate lines flying in confusion, and won the fearful prize of victory 



15^ 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1861 



from the very teeth of defeat." Bragg retreated to Chattanooga, and 
Rosecrans held possession of Murfreesborough. 

Thus begins the year of 1863, with a decided and glorious victory on the 
field of battle ; but there was a moral victory also won on this day, which 
decided the fate of the country for future generations. 

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 



^^HE National Government had disavowed any intention 

' " to make war upon slavery in the States where it existed- 

The contest was for the supremacy of the Nation. 

and the enforcement of its laws and Constitution. 

There came a mighty revolution of feeling among 

tliose in the North, who had sympathized with the 

peculiar institution of the South. They came to see 

that this was the fundamental cause of the insurrection, and 

at the same time a means of prolonging strife. The negroes 

could plant, reap the crops, and attend to domestic affairs, 

while the white men were doing military duty. The course 

of many of the Northern generals in returning the fugitive 

slaves who came into their lines, was very unpopular. 

The Republican party in Congress was pressing upon 
the attention of President Lincoln, the importance of 
emancipating the slaves held by those who were fighting the 
national government. Congress had abolished slavery in the 
District of Columbia, and on the 22d of September, Abraham Lincoln issued 
a preliminary proclamation, in which he declared his purpose to issue a 
Proclamation of Emancipation on the first day of January, 1863, forever 
setting free the slaves of all men found that day in open rebellion against the 
United States. The Confederates sneered at this, and their Northern 
sympathizers, of whom there were some still remaining called it a" Pope's Bull 
against a Comet." The war went on as we have seen ; prosecuted with vigor 
on both sides. The dawn of the New Year came, and "The Emancipation 
Proclamation " was issued under the seal of the United States. The 
friends of freedom hailed it all over the world as the harbinger of success to 
the North. At once the fetters were stricken from over three millions of 
human beings, and they were free before the law to enter the union lines, 
and as fast as new territory in the South was occupied by Union arms they 
were set at liberty. It was a severe blow to the South, and took away their 
hope, but it allied all the real friends of human liberty in the world to the 
cause of the Union. While the North was engaged in this work, the 
'Confederacy was engaged in extensive preparations to destroy the commerce 
and the power of the nation. Privateers, built in British shipyards, equipped 
with British guns and seamen, fitted out in British waters; were sent to prey 
upon American commerce, with the stars and bars flying at their peak. 




iS65] 



THE CIVIL WAR. 



When the people of New York heard the. cry of the starving operatives at 
Manchester, England, whose supply of cotton had been cut off by the 
blockade of the South, they sent a ship-load of provisions to aid them. This 
vessel, laden with the voluntary bounty of America to the starving citizens 
of England, was guarded upon her voyage by an armed government vessel 
t'O preserve her from the piratical torch, lighted by British hands. 

The course of Great Britain, during all the period of civil war in 
America, seems to the historian a peculiarly inconsistent one. With the 
proud boast that no slave could live under her flag, she hastened to recognize 
the belligerent rights of the Confederate States, gave the moral aid of her 
indifference and apathy to acts of illegality, and stultified herself in regard 
to her national policy of eighty years on the question of neutrality ; gave a 
ready market to the bonds of irredeemable \'alue, and sheltered and abetted 
the enemies of a country with which she was at peace: furnished ships, 
munitions of war, and men to fight against the same country. All this for 
the sake of aiding a cause avowedly resting upon slavery as its chief corner- 
stone. 

The Confederate privateer Alabama, the principal one of the craft 
fitted out by the British, committed fearful depredations on American 
commerce during the last ninety days of the year 1862. 




THE MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1863. 

E will open the account of the year with the 
operations on the Mississippi. A portion of this 
great river was still in the hands of the Confed- 
erates, from Vicksburg to Port Hudson, where the 
South had been permitted to erect strong fortifi- 
' cations, a distance of twenty-five miles from Baton 
Rouge. Grant had a large amount of supplies at 
Holly Springs, which, owing to the carelessness or 
worse of the commandant, there fell into the hands 
of the Confederates December 20th. Grant was forced to fall 
back, and thus a large force was able to come to Vicksburg. 
Sherman had planned to attack the city in the rear, but in an 
engagement on the Chickasaw Bayou was defeated with great 
loss December 28th, 1862. He was compelled to abandon that 
enterprise, and January 2d, 1S63, he was superseded by General 
McClernand, who out-ranked him. About the middle of January 
the Confederate fort at Arkansas Pass was captured and many supplies 
destroyed. Grant had come down the river from Memphis, and \^icks- 
burg was placed under siege. The army was organized into four corps, 
and after a series of movements which would in themselves fill a volume he 
finally struck upon a plan which he followed to the end. Some of the naval 



something 




154 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 

fleet ran down by Vicksburg to destroy the Confederate fleet below, but 
were themselves taken and destroyed. A strong force went down the 
west bank of the riv-er in command of generals McClernand and McPherson, 
in the direction of New Carthage. Porter determined to run by the 
batteries of Vicksburg, and succeeded in doing so with most of his fleet 
and transports on the i6th of April; on the 22d six transports accom- 
plished the same feat, and now Grant prepared for a vigorous attack 
upon the flank and rear of the city. A most wonderful cavalry raid 
under Colonel Grierson through the very heart of Mississippi assured 
, Grant that the bulk of the Southern army of that region was in 
Vicksburg. Porter attacked and again ran by the batteries of Vicksburg 
April 29th, and May ist gained a victory at Port Gibson. Sherman 
joined the Union army May 8th. The Confederates were defeated near 
Ridimond Ma}- 12th, and again at Jackson May 14th. The Confed- 
erates were driven northward and another victory was gained for the 
Union army at Champion Mills; the i6th and 17th Grant drove them 
from Big Black River, and on the 19th he had the whole army penned 
up in Vicksburg, having lived off the enemy's country for two weeks, in 
which time his army had gained repeated victories. The very day he 
arrived before Vicksburg Grant made an assault, but was repulsed. This 
he followed up with another unsuccessful attempt on the 22d. Then he 
settled down to a regular siege of the city for forty days, pouring shot and 
shell into the beleaguered town day and night, until the citizens were 
safe only in caves that they dug in the banks of the hills with which 
the city abounds. The army and people were reduced to the verge of 
starvation and were in great distress. They were driven to the necessity 
of eating mule meat, and cats and dogs. Fourteen ounces of food for 
ten days was the e.xtent of the rations issued. General Pemberton gave 
up all hope of being relieved by Johnston, who he thought would strike 
in Grant's rear, and on the morning of July 3d he sent proposals to 
surrender. The formal surrender was made on the glorious fourth of 
July, and there was great rejoicing, for on the same day another hard 
fought battle was won in the East. Twenty-seven thousand stand of 
arms were taken and the strongest fortress on the Mississippi fell into 
the hands of the Unionists. The commander of Port Hudson, which 
had been bravely besieged by General Banks for forty days, surrendered on 
the 9th; but we will recount his doings in the Lower Mississippi prior 
to this. Banks had sent troops to the support of the Union forces at 
Galveston, Texas, but the Confederate General Magruder had repulsed 
them and retaken the city. This was a barren victory to the Confed- 
erates for Admiral P'arragut maintained a strict blockade over that 
port. After this a land and naval force was sent into the Teche region 
and made a successful expedition to repossess the western part of 
Louisiana. 

An expedition to the Red River under Banks penetrated the country 



1865] THE CIVIL WAR. 155 

as far as Alexandria, where the general proclaimed that all Southern and 
Western Louisiana was free from Confederate rule. With this impression he 
led his troops to Port Hudson and invested that point. He made an assault 
on this fortress on May 2gth, but was repulsed with much loss. The siege 
went on for forty days, and after Vicksburg fell into the hands of the 
Unionists, the Confederates saw that it would be useless to try to hold out 
longer and capitulated. Now the river was open to the sea, and the 
Confederacy was severed in two parts. The blow was a severe one, and 
the wiser men of the Confederacy saw that their cause was hopeless 
from this point in the contest. 

We last left the army of the Potomac in winter-quarters at the 
opening of the year, Major-General Joseph Hooker in command. There 
followed a period of three months in which he was busily engaged in 
re-organizing that army. A large number of officers and men were absent 
from their regiments. There were officers who were opposed to the 
Government's policy on the question of slavery, and many were crying 
out it is a " war for the negro " and not a " war for union." These men 
were removed and their places were filled by energetic men in full sympathy 
with the administration. Order and discipline became thoroughly established 
and Hooker had over one hundred thousand available troops on the first 
day of April. The period of rest and reformation of the army had done 
much to add to its tone and strength. During this same time General Lee 
had been engaged in strengthening the army of Northern Virginia. A rigid 
conscription act had been enforced and all the available men were hurried 
into the ranks. He had made the defense of Richmond impregnable and 
with wonderful energy and skill had put his army into the best condition for 
the coming struggle. In April, Lee had a well organized and enthusiastic 
army of more than sixty thousand men. A part of his army under Long- 
street were in South-eastern Virginia but Lee was behind the strong, 
fortifications and able to cope with a much superior force. 

Early in April Hooker determined to make an advance upon Rich- 
mond. He threw a mounted force of ten thousand men in the rear of 
Lee's army, and moved with another large force to Chancellorsville, within 
ten miles of Richmond. The left wing of Hooker's army, consisting of the 
First, Third, and Sixth Corps, was near Fredericksburg, under General 
Sedgwick, and by their demonstration on the Confederate front so 
completely deceived General Lee that Hooker was well on the way before 
Lee was aware of his real design. But Lee did not turn back to Richmond, 
as Hooker thought he would when he discovered his peril, but pushed the 
column of Stonewall Jackson forward, and compelled Hooker to fight at 
Chancellorsville, with his army divided. There was great peril for both 
armies — Hooker and Lee. The bloody battle of Chancellorsville was fought 
the 1st and 2d of May, and resulted in a bitter defeat for the Union army. 
The struggle was severe and sanguinary, and Hooker's army was driven back 
on the road leading to the Rapidan and the Rappahannock. Lee's forces 



156 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 

were united, but Hooker's were divided. Sedgwick, at Fredericksburg, was in 
danger and could not come to Hooker's aid. When he received the 
command of his chief, he moved at once and took possession of Fredericks- 
burg — stormed the heiglits, and drove General Early back May 3d. He then 
moved on to join Hooker's main body, but was checked at Salem's Church, a 
few miles from Fredericksburg, by the whole of Lee's army. Now, instead of 
being able to join Hooker, he was driven across the Rappahannock May 4th 
and 5th. Hooker, hearing of the disaster to Sedgwick, was obliged to retreat 
across the river. The Union forces united and fell back on May 5th. The 
whole movement had resulted in a severe loss to the Union army, and a 
decided victory to the Confederates. Longstreet had made a spirited and 
vigorous attack upon General Peck, but had been repulsed at Suffolk at the 
head of the Nansemond River, and Longstreet, hearing of the disaster at 
Chancellorsville, joined Lee and made his army as strong as that of the 
Nationals. The Union army had been out-generaled once more, and the skill 
and energy of the Confederate commander had won the day. 

Under the impression that there was still a large body of people in the 
North who would manifest active sympathy with the Confederates if they 
had the opportunity to do so, and highly elated by their successes at 
Chancellorsville, the authorities ordered Lee to prepare for another formidable 
invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania. But they had misunderstood the 
temper and the resources of the North. Hooker suspected this design, and 
reported his con\-ictions to the government at Washington. The term of 
enlistment of a large number of troops that had volunteered for nine months 
had e.xpired, and Hooker's army was being weakened by their discharge, but 
other recruits for three years or during the war were coming in. By a flank 
movement Lee compelled Hooker to break up his camp on the Rappahannock 
and move toward Washington. Lee at the same time sent his left wing up 
the Shenandoah, and a battle was fought at Winchester, in which General 
Milroy was driven back and the Union forces suffered severe loss, but escaped 
into Maryland and Penns}-lvania with their supply and ammunition trains. A 
large cavalry force pursued Milro\' into Pennsylvania, and destroyed the 
railroad up the Cumberland Valley to Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, 
plundering the people all along the march. The Confederate army was upon 
Northern soil on June 25th. Hooker had been vigilant and active in the 
meanwhile, and crossed the Potomac at Edwards' Ferry. A disagreement 
arose between General Hooker and General Halleck — then Commander-in- 
chief — and Hooker resigned. General George G. Meade was placed in 
command of the army of the Potomac June 28th, and retained it to the 
close of the war. At this time the Union army were in Frederick, Maryland, 
ready to cut off Lee's line of communication, fall upon his columns in retreat, 
or follow him up the Susquehanna Valley. Lee was then preparing to 
march on to Philadelphia, but learning of the danger which threatened his 
flank and rear he recalled Ewell, who was within a few miles of Harrisburg. 
The rapid gathering of the militia of Pennsylvania and surrounding States 



1 865] THE CIVIL WAR. 



'3/ 



alarmed him, and Lee, therefore, concentrated all the army of Northern 
Virginia in the vicinity of Gettysburg. He did this for the purpose of falling 
upon the army of the Potomac with crushing force, and then march upon 
Baltimore or Washington, or, in case of defeat, have a line of retreat to the 
Potomac River. General Meade did not comprehend this design of Lee 
until June 30th, and then at once he prepared to meet the shock of battle on 
a line a little south of Gettysburg. This was the pivotal battle of the war, 
and deserves more than a passing notice. The Confederates had invaded a 
Northern State, and were now. to meet the Union army on its own soil. The 
great cities of the North were threatened. The Southern army had touched 
its highest point, and upon this issue the fortunes of the country hung. A 
new' general had assumed the command of an army with which he was 
unacquainted two days before the contest was commenced. Meade had an 
oft-defeated army of from sixty to seventy thousand men with which to 
meet the seventy-five thousand victorious troops of Lee. McClellan, Burnside 
and Hooker had measured ability with this adroit and self-possessed chieftain, 
and been worsted again and again. It seemed a hopeless task, but Meade 
was calm, quiet, resolute, brave, and unpretending. He set himself about 
the task assigned him, and he accomplished it by the loyal co-operation of 
his brave corps commanders, and the persistency of the noble rank and file 
who were determined to conquer or die. Thousands of men who had 
hitherto excused themselves from active military service in the field arose to 
arms, and offered themselves for immediate service, when the field of battle was 
changed from Southern to Northern soil. The Union cavalry under General 
Kilpatrick had met and defeated the force under General Stewart, at Hanover, 
a town east of Gettysburg, June 29th, and on the same day Buford and his 
horsemen entered Gettysburg, but found no Confederates there. The 30th, 
General J. F. Reynolds, the brave commander of the First Corps, who fell on 
the field of battle the next day, arrived with his troops. General Hill of the 
Confederate army was approaching with a large force from Chambersburg, 
which encountered Buford's cavalry in the early morning of July 1st. The 
sound of a sharp skirmish brought Reynolds to the field, and a severe 
engagement ensued on Oak or Seminary Ridge, in which the gallant 
Reynolds fell dead. General O. O. Howard with the Eleventh Corps came 
up and the battle became more general, for Lee was concentrating his forces 
there. The Union army resisted the attack, and held their ground bravely as 
charge after charge was made upon their lines, but at night they were pressed 
back to a more advantageous position selected by General W. S. Hancock, 
the intrepid and beloved commander of the Second Corps. This position was 
on a range of rocky hills back of, but close to, the village. The line was 
formed in the two sides of a triangle, with Cemetery Hill, the point nearest 
the town, forming the angle. Here the troops halted for the night, and threw 
up breastworks for defense. General Meade with the main body of the army 
hastened up to join the noble forces who had sustained the brunt of the first 
day's fight. The next day the forces were facing each other on what was to 



I5S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 

pro\-c llie most hotly-contested battle field of the war. Each commander 
understood the immense value of the prize at stake, and seemed loth to 
make the first move in the decisive contest. Not until late in the afternoon 
of July 2d did the carnage open. General Lee then precipitated his solid 
columns upon Meade's left, commanded by General Sickles, and the fearful 
harvest of death began. 

This extended to the center, commanded by Hancock, and the heavy 
masses of armed men rolled up to his line to be driven back, like the waves 
of the sea from an iron-bound coast. Huge furrows were plowed through 
the solid ranks of men by the shot and shell, that swept them from the 
Union artillery and yet they would re-form and march up, again to be 
swept back by the awful whirlwind of slaughter that opposed them. At 
sunset the battle ceased on this side of the triangle. The rocky eminence 
called Little Round Top, was the center of the most determined struggle, 
and the Confederates endeavored to take it at any cost so that they could 
hurl the left wing, back on the center. But the brave troops stationed here 
were as firm as the impenetrable granite, and held the position ; at once it 
was opened on the right and right center, commanded by generals Slocum 
and Howard. The latter occupied Cemetery Hill, and the former Gulps Hill. 
Early and Johnson, of General Ewell's corps of the Confederate army, fell 
with great vigor upon these points, and seemed determined to carry them at 
all hazards. They were repulsed with great slaughter from the right center 
on Cemetery Hill, but succeeded in turning the right wing, and holding it for 
the night. This struggle ended at ten o'clock at night. This day's fight had 
resulted in some advantage to the Confederates. Lee was sanguine that 
another day would bring a complete victory for the Confederate cause. 
That was an axious night in many a Northern home, as millions of sleepless 
men and women were reading the swiftly flying news of the deadly 
encounter. 

The loss of Lee had been considerable ; but the Union line was 
■weakened, and an attack on the morning would sweep them from the field. 
This was the hour of deepest gloom to the Union cause, and not a man from 
the Commander-in-chief down to the humblest private in the ranks but knew 
it. A million of brave men throughout the country were in arms, but the 
course of Lee's northward march could not be prevented if he won this 
decisive battle field. At four the next morning General Slocum advanced 
and re-occupied the ground he had lost the night before. Meade 
strengthened his weakened lines. A hard fight of four hours was necessary 
to retrieve the old position, and hold the persistent columns of Ewell in 
check. The Union left and left center were impregnable, and Lee prepared 
to fall with crushing effect upon the weaker right. The entire forenoon was 
passed by the opposing generals in making preparation for the fearful 
death grapple. At one o'clock the artillery from Lee's army opened upon 
Howard's front. The challenge was answered by the Union army. The 
country for miles around shook at the roar of over three hundred 



i865] THE CIVIL WAR. 159 

heavy guns. For three hours the awful duel was kept up, sending death 
and carnage to either side. Then Lee, under the cover of this heavy 
cannonading, precipitated his solid columns which were to break the Federal 
line and gain the day. They swept over the plains, and with the fearful 
yell of battle, attacked the breastworks, only to be swept down by the 
grape and canister, belching forth from a hundred cannon. The ranks fell as 
grass before the mower's scythe ; but on and on the gathering columns press, 
and the harvest of death ceased not till the sun went down. As men went 
down in the bloody tide their places were filled by those who pressed on 
after them, and brave men contended hand to hand on the ramparts. At one 
time Lee, who, like the French Napoleon at Waterloo, was watching 
the battle from a hill-top, saw through the lifting battle-cloud the 
Confederate flag waving on the Union ramparts at a certain point. His 
generals congratulate him on a victory ; but he looks as another dense 
cloud of smoke lifts, and his men are seen broken and fleeing down the fatal 
hill-side, where dead men cover the ground so thick that the retreating army 
tread upon them at every step. The last attack has failed and the Federals 
have won THE BATTLE uF Gettysburg. 

Lee began his hasty retreat on the fourth of July, and Meade, with his 
victorious but exhausted army, followed in hot pursuit to the Potomac, 
where, by fortifications and a show of force, Lee was able to hold the 
Federals at bay until he had got his army and artillery safely across the 
river into Virginia. This was the last Confederate advance into the territory 
of the Northern States. 

The United States now resolved to make one grand effort to suppress 
the Confederacy. A call for men to fill up the army not meeting with so 
ready a response as the circumstances required, a draft was made upon able- 
bodied men between eighteen and forty-five. This gave rise to much 
dissatisfaction among the peace faction, and was the occasion of riots in 
New York. These were put down by the police, aided by some troops, 
and the draft went on. 

After the defeat at Gettysburg, General Lee and General Meade had a 
race down the Shenandoah Valley similar to the one of the year before. 
There was no decisive battle between the two armies for the remainder of 
the year. Several cavalry fights at Culpepper, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, 
Raccoon Station, Robertson's River and Kelley's Ford, in the months of 
August and September. At Cumberland Gap, Burnside captured two 
thousand Confederates September 9th. There was a sharp fight on the 
Rappahannock November 7th, in which Lee with his army was driven across 
the river with a loss of two thousand prisoners, four guns, and eight stands of 
colors. Lee then took his post across Mine Run, which he strongly fortified 
with breastworks and abatis, and held Meade again at bay. Meade 
attempted to dislodge him, and for this purpose cut loose from his base, 
with ten days rations crossed the Rapidan, and with his force advanced to 
Mine Run, but he found Lee so strongly intrenched that he gave up the 



i6o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 

attempted attack, and re-crossing the river went into winter-quarters the first 
of December. 

In the State of Tennessee there were some startHng events during the 
summer and fall of this year. In June, Rosecrans ordered an advance of 
his army in three divisions under generals Thomas, McCook and Crittenden. 
The point to be reached from Murfreesborough was Chattanooga. June 
30th. Bragg, who saw the design of Rosecrans, fled before him and passed 
over the Cumberland Mountains. Rosecrans followed hard after him, but he 
reached the Tennessee River, and crossed it at Bridgeport, and then hastened 
to Chattanooga. Rosecrans pursued Bragg as far as the base of the 
mountain ; here he halted and rested for a whole month. But the middle of 
August he surprised Bragg by appearing in his front, with a line extending 
along the Tennessee River above Chattanooga for a hundred miles, and 
poured shot and shell into the Confederate camp. 

Early in September, Thomas and McCook had crossed the Tennessee 
River, and by the 8th had secured the passes of Lookout Mountain, while 
Crittenden was in Lookout Valley, near the river. When Bragg was 
informed of this, he abandoned Chattanooga to defend his line of 
communication, and Crittenden moved his forces into the Chattanooga 
Valley. Thus without a battle the object of crossing the mountain was 
gained. Bragg had been driven from Middle Tennessee, and from his strong- 
hold. Burnside crossed the mountains with twenty thousand troops and 
joined Rosecrans on the line of the railroad south-westerly from London. 

Rosecrans thought Bragg was in full retreat and pushed forward to 
strike his flank, but found him concentrated at Lafayette. About the 
middle of September the two armies were face to face on the Chick- 
amauga Creek. A battle ensued and the Confederates won the closely 
contested field at a fearful loss to themselves. Chattanooga was held 
by the Federals but they were hemmed in by Bragg and his army. 
The Government decided to hold this point, and ordered generals Grant, 
Burnside and Rosecrans to concentrate there. The Federals were now 
threatened with famine, but General Hooker was sent from the army of 
the Potomac with the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps, Howard's and Slocum's, 
to hold the line of communication for Rosecrans. So the attempt of 
Bragg to starve out the Federals in Chattanooga failed. The Confed- 
erates had possession of Lookout Mountain, and swept down upon the 
Twelfth Corps October 28th-29th at midnight, but found the general upon 
the watch and they were repulsed. In the mean time Longstreet had 
been sent into Tennessee to seize Knoxville and drive out the army of 
Burnside. He came swiftly and secretly, and Burnside was closeh- besieged 
in that city. Grant saw that he must attack Bragg at once upon the 
arrival of Sherman's troops. The plan was made of the battle in which Grant 
was determined to strike the center of Bragg's army on Missionary Ridge 
and his right on Lookout Mountain. Thomas advanced to Orchard Knob, 
and fortified it November 23d. Hooker carried the works at the base 



1865] THE CIVIL WAR. i6i 

of Lookout Mountain, and his victorious troops pressed up the sides of 
the mountain, which was hidden from sight by a heavy fog, and fought 
above the clouds. The Union armies in the valley below heard the 
cannonading and the shout of the charge, but could not see anything 
of what was being done until the fog cleared up the next morning and 
showed Hooker in possession of the- mountain peak. While Hooker was 
fighting above the clouds Sherman had successfully performed his part 
in the plan and secured a strong position on Missionary Ridge. In the 
night of November 24th Bragg retired from Lookout Mountain and 
concentrated all his forces on Missionary Ridge. The severe and desperate 
encounter of the 25th raged all day — Sherman, Thomas and Hooker 
all taking part, and at night the fires of victciry lighted up the whole 
length of Missionary Ridge as Bragg was in full retreat. Sherman 
advanced to the relief of Burnside at Knoxville, and Longstreet was 
compelled to raise the siege December 3d, and return to the army of 
Virginia. Sherman returned to Chattanooga and Burnside was left at 
Knoxville. So great was the rejoicing at these victories that President 
Lincoln proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and praise, as he had done 
after the Union victory at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. 

There were military operations of some little account in North Carolina 
during the year, where General D. H. Hill had been sent by order of 
General Lee to harass the Federal troops, but the Union forces held 
the advantage gained and the State did not pass from their control. 
There was a most desperate attempt to capture Fort Sumter and Charleston 
waging all the year, with repeated failure and discouragement. The 
harbor had been filled with the strongest obstacles in the form of 
torpedoes, heavy iron chains, sunken vessels and other impediments, and 
guarded by batteries of great strength. General Q. A. Gillmore was 
placed in command of the Union forces June 12th, 1863, and Admiral 
Dupont was succeeded by Admiral Dahlgren July 6th. 

Active operations were commenced at once from Folly Island, held by 
the Union forces, opening upon Morris Island. General Strong landed on the 
latter island July loth, and drove the Confederates to their fortification, 
Fort Wagner, but when he attacked them the next day he was repulsed with 
heavy loss. Gillmore began a siege of this fort, which continued until 
September 6th, when the Confederates abandoned it, and at once the Federals 
occupied Fort Wagner and Fort Gregg. Now thc\- had full command of the 
city of Charleston, and could pour their solid shot and shell into the streets of 
the doomed city. Fort Sumter was made a heap of shapeless ruins in 
October by the heavy cannonading that Gillmore poured in upon it. 

There were some operations of more or less consequence beyond the 
Mississippi, inflicting some damages upon the Federal troops and stirring up 
the Indians against the United States. But these resulted in no very decided 
advantage to the Confederates, and at the close of 1863 all Texas west of 
the Colorado was in the possession of the Federals. 
II 



l62 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1861 



The finances of the United States were in a healthy condition, for in 
spite of the enormous debt, constantly increasing, the public credit never 
stood higher, while the Confederate States were in a most deplorable financial 
situation. Their war debt was as large as that of the Federal government 
and the credit was wanting. They were forced to seize supplies for their 
army, and in order to keep their ranks full, passed a most severe conscription 
act, calling out every available man for military service " robbing the cradle 
and the grave." 

THE MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1864. 

iHE Congress of the United States in the opening of this 
year saw that there had been some radical trouble in 
the management of the war, and came to the conclusion 
to put some one man in command of the entire force of 
the Government and make him responsible for the 
conduct of the war. Hitherto there had been at times a 
• conflict of authority, and different generals had been 
working upon opposing theories, and this had been the prolific 
p cause of delays, and reverses. Now a new rank was created b}- 
law, and U. S. Grant was commissioned Lieutenant-General 
p" and Commander-in-chjef of all United States forces. He 
^ believed that the surest way to end the war, and in the long run 
[Ip save human life, was to strike decisive and heavy blows and 
rj^pji^rags jJES^ follow them up with hard fighting. He would make war with 
'^^^^b- '•^^ horrible intention of killing men and end the contest as 
^^^^ quickly as possible. Two expeditions were formed, one having 
p the capture of Atlanta, Georgia, and the other, that of 
Richmond in view. For the first he put General VV. T. Sherman in chief 
command, and for the second, General G. G. Meade. The task of the latter 
was to beat the army of General Lee, and the former the army of Johnston. 
These were now the chief armies of the Confederacy, and upon their 
destruction hung the issue of the war. 

The year 1864 began with a series of reverses in the extreme South and 
South-west. The capture of Fort Pillow and the treacherous massacre of its 
n-arrison by General Forest, in April, was a foul blot upon the civilization of 
the age. He sent a flag of truce demanding the surrender of the fort, and 
while it was under consideration secretly arranged his forces to fall upon it 
unexpectedly. This was done with the cry " No quarter," when a large 
number who threw down their arms were butchered in cold blood. Forest 
said in self-defense : " War means fight and fight means kill — we want but few 
prisoners." General Banks was sent up the Red River upon a disastrous 
expedition. Missouri was invaded by a large force which caused considerable 
trouble throughout the summer and was not driven out until November. 
Arkansas had come under the control of the Confederates, and the Union 




iS65] THE CIVIL WAR. . 163 

citizens who had been making preparations to return the State government to 
the Federals were silenced. The operations in Charleston Harbor were being- 
carried on slowly. East Tennessee was the scene of stirring events of minor 
importance, but the country turned from all these to the more sanguinajy and 
gigantic operations in Virginia and Georgia. Some movements were 
undertaken in the early spring of 1864, with the design of capturing 
Richmond and releasing the Union prisoners in Libby Prison and on Belle 
Isle. In February, General B. F. Butler sent fifteen hundred troops against 
Richmond, but his design was frustrated by treachery. Later than this 
General Kilpatrick swept around Lee's right flank with five thousand 
cavalry and penetrated the outer defenses of Richmond, but was compelled 
to retire March ist. Another part of the same command was able to enter 
the lines at another point, but were driven back with the loss of Colonel 
Dahlgren and ninety men. General Easton with a considerable force 
threatened to cut Lee's communications with the Shenandoah Valley. But all 
these little forays were only intended to show how hollow the Confederacy 
really was, rather than to accomplish any great result. The two great plans 
of General Grant were to be put into execution later. 

The mistaken opinions in the early part of the war had been corrected 
by bitter experience, and the North and South were alike aware that the fight 
must wage to the end. A well-tried general, in whom the whole North had 
confidence, had assumed command. The volunteer army was no longer a 
mass of citizen militia, but hardened veterans of battle, inured to heavy 
marching and heavy fighting. The spirit of the North was resolute and as 
determined as ever. Grant had his headquarters with the army of the 
Potomac, which had been re-organized and formed into three corps, the 
Second Corps under General Hancock, the Fifth in command of General 
Warren, and the Sixth with the gallant Sedgwick at its head. General 
Burnside with the Ninth Corps, which had been filled up by recruits and 
thoroughly reconstructed during the winter, was attached to the arm}- of the 
Potomac. General Grant ordered Meade in Virginia and Sherman in Georgia 
to advance the beginning of May. We will follow the fortunes of the first. 
The 4th of May the army of the Potomac was led into the region known as 
the Wilderness, to attack the Confederates who were intrenched on Mine 
Run. A fearful carnage in that trackless and tangled country ensued for two 
days ; Lee's front could not be carried, and his flank must be turned if 
possible. General Warren led the movement out of the Wilderness with the 
Fifth Corps May 8th, and came to the open country at Spottsylvania, where 
he found a part of Lee's army posted across his path, and the rest of the 
force rapidly concentrating there. The flanking movement had been 
expected by Lee, and he was ready to meet it. On the 9th. General 
Sedgwick was killed while reconnoitering on the front line. The battle 
opened on the loth, and was contested with fearful loss on both sides. On 
the nth Grant sent his famous dispatch to Washington, "■ I intend to f:glit it 
out on this line if it takes all snuuner." On the I2th Hancock broke Lee's 



i64 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 

line and gained a decided advantage, but the following night the Confederate 
army silently withdrew behind his second line of intrenchments and was as 
strong as ever. Another flank movement was impending, and Lee made 
an attack to prevent it on May 19th and was repulsed. While these 
operations were going on, General Sheridan made a raid upon Lee's rear with 
a large force of cavalry, and came to within a few miles of Richmond, 
destroying railroads and military supplies. General Sigel was in the 
Shenandoah and Kanawha valleys, and had a fight at New Market May 15th, 
in which the Confederates gained the day. 

General Butler with the army of the James had left Fortress 
Monroe with twenty-five thousand troops in transports, followed by Admiral 
Lee with gun-boats, and they took possession of both sides of the river 
as far as City Point by the aid of fifteen hundred mounted men, who had 
forded the Chickahominy and taken their position on the James opposite 
City Point. This was done with but little fighting, for there were few Confed- 
erates there. Butler fortified Bermuda Hundred and intended to cut 
communication between Petersburg and Richmond. The former city could 
have been easily taken, but for some reason it was not accomplished, 
and the Confederates from South Carolina hastened there to aid in 
its defense. Beauregard got into Petersburg before the railroad was destroyed, 
and on the morning of May i6th attacked Butler's right, and after a 
sharp fight drove his army into their intrenchments. At the same instant a 
charge on Butler's front was repulsed. For several days there was much 
fighting all along his lines. 

Grant's army was moving by the left flank, but Lee had the inside 
line of the parallel circles on the road to Richmond and consequently 
was able to move faster than his antagonist. A heavy battle was fought 
at the North Anna River. Grant was satisfied that he could not carry 
the strong position of Lee, and again resumed his march by the left flank. 
On the 26th of May the whole army 'was south of the Pawmunkey. 
Lee was again in a fortified position and a heavy battle ensued. " By 
the left flank " again came the order, and the army moved to Cold 
Harbor. Ten thousand men from General Butler's army under command 
of General W. F. Smith re-enforced the army of Meade, and he made an 
advance upon the enemy in front. The fight here on June 3d was 
bloody and short. In twenty minutes the Union arm}- lost ten thousand 
men and only succeeded in holding their own position. The line of 
Lee's army could not be broken. Other attempts to force the lines 
the next day met with similar results, but all the while the Union 
forces were moving by the left flank and June 7th rested on the Chick- 
ahominy. Sheridan crossed the river with his cavalry and tore up the 
railroads and bridges. The whole army moved across the river to Lee's 
right and crossed the James June 14th and 15th. Butler made an 
unsuccessful attempt to take Petersburg before aid could arrive from 
Richmond. The failure to accomplish this disarranged the plans some- 



1865] THE CIVIL WAR. 165 

what, and caused the long and exhaustive siege of both cities which 
lasted for ten months. Grant established his head-quarters at City Point, 
and on the i6th preparations were made to carry the city of Petersburg 
by assault. Warren, Hancock and Burnside made a desperate attack on 
the lines here, but it was evident that the whole army of Lee was south 
of the James. The assaults of the Union army on the 17th and iSth 
of June resulted in some advantage to the Nationalists, but it was 
plain that the time to take Petersburg by direct advance was past. An 
attempt was now made on the right of the Confederate army to cut 
the Weldon Railroad and turn his flank. The railroad was destroyed as 
far as Ream's Station. The besieging lines of Meade's and Butler's army 
extended from Bermuda Hundred to the Weldon Railroad around Petersburg 
and Richmond. A disastrous attempt to break the Confederate lines at 
Petersburg was made on the 30th of July by exploding a mine under 
a fort on the outpost of the line. This proved a heavy disaster to the 
Union army, in which five thousand troops were lost and no advantage 
gained. September 29th Butler stormed and carried the strongest works 
on Lee's left, known as Fort Harrison. On October 27th an attempt was 
made to extend the Union lines to Hatcher's Run, but after heavy 
fighting the Federal troops were obliged to retire to their fortifications in 
front of Petersburg. Here they settled down for a winter's siege of 
that city. From the opening of the campaign in May to the ist of November 
the Nationalists had lost in killed, wounded, prisoners and missing, the 
enormous number of one hundred thousand men. 

There were exciting times up the Shenandoah Valley in the summer 
and early fall of this year. A Union army had encountered a Confederate 
force at Winchester July 20th and defeated it, taking many prisoners 
and supplies. Early was in full force up the valley, and so sanguine was 
he that an invading force of cavalry swept through Maryland and burned 
the city of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Sheridan was sent into the 
valley with thirty thousand troops to repel the invaders. By a series 
of the most brilliant and dashing operations and unexpected movements, 
Sheridan sent the Confederates " whirling up the valley." Then there 
came another battle at Winchester, in which Early was driven to his 
•strong position at Fisher's Hill September 19th. He was forced from the 
new position the 21st and fled to the mountains. Early had less than 
one-half the men now that came with him into the valley. Sheridan 
had his position at Cedar Creek near Strasburg, and Early, who had been 
re-enforced heavily, now came with crushing effect upon the Union army at a 
time "when Sheridan was twenty miles away." The lines were driven back 
in great confusion. The Eleventh Corps were not able to withstand the 
fierce onslaught of Early's men. Sheridan hastened to the scene of battle, 
reformed the broken lines, and riding along the regiments and brigades 
with cheers encouraged his men to victory, regained the lost ground, and 
swept the Confederates in hopeless flight up the Shenandoah. Early's 



i66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 

army was nearly annihilated and Lee could spare no more men. This 
ended the contest for the fertile valley which had been overrun so often 
by the opposing forces — Sheridan had burned and destroyed on every hand 
— such was the stern necessity of war — and the Confederates could no 
more gain the abundant supplies that they found in the rich valley, 
which for years had been the store-house of their armies. 

The beginning of May, when General Grant ordered the two great 
armies to move, Sherman was at Chattanooga with about one hundred 
thousand men. His antagonist was General Johnston, with fifty-five 
thousand troops, who was at Dalton strongly intrenched. Sherman's plan 
was to move by the left flank and compel the Confederates to abandon one 
strong position after another in order to save their army. A sharp fight 
took place at Resaca Station May 15th, which drove Johnston across the 
Oostenaula. The Union army closely followed in three divisions. At 
Adairsville, Johnston made a stand, but when the Federals advanced he 
pushed on and fortified a position commanding the Altoona Pass. After 
resting a little Sherman moved forward to the right, and had a severe contest 
May 25th. This was a drawn battle, without advantage to either side. June 
1st, Johnston was forced to abandon the Altoona Pass. Sherman took 
possession of this and made it a second base of supplies by repairing the 
railroad to Chattanooga. He here received reinforcements. June 9th he 
took possession of Big Shanty, and by persistency and frequent fighting 
forced Johnston to give up Pine Mountain June 15th, Lost Mountain June 
17th, and Kenesaw Mountain July 2d. On the morning of July 3d, the 
stars and stripes waved over the last mentioned mountain, and Sherman rode 
in triumph into Marietta, close upon the heels of Johnston's army. The 
Confederates succeeded in crossing the river here before Sherman could give 
them a crushing blow. Johnston was obliged to retreat July loth, toward 
Atlanta, Georgia. He fortified his army on a line covering that town from 
the Chattahooche River to Peachtree Creek. He knew that his force was 
less than that of the Nationals, and therefore he preferred to save his army 
rather than risk an engagement. He had already had a number of severe 
encounters, and had been worsted in them all. General Johnston was here 
relieved of the command of the Confederate army, and superseded by 
General Hood. The former was a cautious, scientific soldier, while the latter 
was a dashing, reckless officer, who did not care for the loss of men if he 
could make quick work. July i6th. General Rousseau, with two thousand 
cavalry, joined Sherman. On the 19th, all the Union forces were across the 
river. A flank movement was made to cut the railroad leading to Augusta. 
This was accomplished. On the 20th, Hood attacked the weakened lines in 
front, but was repulsed with heavy loss. On the 22d, the Confederate lines 
on the heights about Peachtree Creek were abandoned, and Sherman thought 
that Hood, like Johnston had evacuated the city, and consequently moved 
his army rapidly toward Atlanta. He found Hood in a strong line of 
works near the city, which had been built the year before. Preparations 



1865] THE CIVIL WAR. 167 

were made for carrying the city by assault, when a large part of Hood's 
army, which had come around Sherman's rear in the night, fell upon him, and 
a most sanguinary and hotly contested battle raged for four hours. The 
Union army was successful, and the Confederates were driven back to their 
breastworks. July 28th, Hood made another attack upon Sherman but was 
repulsed with heavy loss, and seeing that the Unionists were gradually 
getting possession of all the railroads leading from the city, after a month 
of counter maneuvering the Confederate general abandoned Atlanta, having 
destroyed all factories, warehouses and whatever would be of advantage to 
the enemy. He left no food for the inhabitants, who were on the point of 
starvation. Sherman took possession, and not being able to feed the 
citizens and his own army, humanely ordered all non-combatants to leave 
the city, either for the North or South, as they might choose. He furnished 
transportation for all who wished to go to Chattanooga. 

Hood, after leaving Atlanta, moved upon Sherman's base of supplies at 
Altoona Pass, and threatened the small force there. Sherman sent to 
their assistance, and drove the army of Hood with great slaughter. Then 
he returned to Atlanta with all his troops, destroying all foundries, 
dismantling the railroads, and preparing to cut loose from his base of 
supplies. His army numbered sixty-five thousand men of all kinds. He 
cut the wires which connected him with the North, and started on his grand 
march to the sea. The people in the North did not hear from him for some 
time except through the newspapers of the South, and this was far from 
being reliable. His army was divided into two great columns ; one under 
General O. O. Howard, the other under General W. H. Slocum, with the 
cavalry in command of General Kilpatrick. Nothing was heard from this 
army until December 13th, when it appeared before Savannah and captured 
Fort McAllister, on the Ogeechee River, not far from that city. Savannah 
was invested at once, and on the 20th, Hardee evacuated it and fled to 
Charleston with fifty thousand troops. The army of Georgia entered the 
city the next day and there rested, after a march of two hundred and fifty- 
five miles, inflicting very heavy loss upon the Confederates and sustaining 
but little loss in return. 

Some active measures were going on in Florida and North Carolina 
during this time, but the most interest was centered upon the two grand 
armies. In September and October there were some interesting events, and 
after considerable skirmishing on both sides there was a general engagement 
at Franklin, in which the Confederate forces at first drove their antagonists 
from their breastworks, and were in turn driven back. Hood the 
Confederate general, lost three thousand men. On the 15th of December, 
a desperate battle was fought in front of Nashville, where Hood was 
besieging Scofield. The attack was opened by General Thomas, who drove 
the Confederates from their works and pursued them out of the State. The 
campaign ended with complete success for the Union army. 

The Anglo-Confederate privateers were doing immense damage to our 



i68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 

commerce in all parts of the -world. The first and chief was the Alabama, in 
command of a former United States navy officer, Captain Raphael Semmes. 
The English also built for the Confederates the Florida, Georgia, 
Tallahassee, Olustee and Clnckamaiiga, all of which were committing great 
depredations upon the vessels and cargoes of American ship-owners. This 
drove a large part of our maritime commerce to seek the protection of foreign 
flags. A stupendous effort was made to capture and destroy these cruisers. 
The Georgia was captured off the coast of Lisbon in August, 1864, by the 
United States vessel Niagara ; the Florida by the Wachusett, October 7th, in 
a port of Brazil. The Alabama had been sunk some time before this by the 
Kfarsarge. Captain Semmes was rescued from capture by a British vessel 
which was conveniently near at hand, but the "common people" were left to 
drown or be picked up by the American vessel and a Frenchman. This had 
occurred Sunday June, 19th. 

Admiral Farragut had captured the port of Mobile with a fleet of 
eighteen vessels aided by a land force under General Gordon Granger. This 
fleet passed between the two forts, Morgan and Gaines, lashed together in 
pairs, August 5th, 1864. It was in this engagement that the brave admiral 
was lashed to the rigging of his flag-ship. The Confederate ram Tennessee 
was destroyed and a complete victory gained. The forts were surrendered 
after cannonading and siege. Fort Gaines on the 7th and Fort Morgan 
on the 23d of August. The port of Mobile was closed. 

We will turn for a brief space from the consideration of military to 
political affairs. The National Republican party had met in a convention at 
Baltimore, in June, and nominated Mr. Lincoln for re-election, affirmed its 
determination to maintain the Union and the policy of his government, and 
pledged themselves to sustain it to the end. Andrew Johnson was 
nominated for the Vice-Presidency. 

August 29th the opposition party, or " Democratic," as it was called, opened 
at Chicago, and displayed an intense anti-war feeling. George B. McClellan 
was nominated for the Presidency and George H. Pendleton for Vice- 
President. The resolution that declared the war a failure was scarcely dry 
upon the paper before the people of the United States were called to devote 
a day to thanksgiving and praise for the glorious victories of Sherman 
and Farragut. The election resulted in the most overwhelming majorities 
for Lincoln and Johnson. Only the three States of Delaware, Kentucky 
and New Jersey gave their votes to the opposition. 



1865] 



THE CIVIL WAR. 



169 




THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR-1865. 



fHE year that saw the closing operations of the civil 
strife had come, and General Sherman, after giving his 
gallant army a rest of more than a month, started for a 
march into the interior. On the 17th of February, 1865, 
he captured Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. 
Wade Hampton had ordered all the cotton in that city 
to be piled in the public square and burned. In the 
severe gale which was then blowing the city was set on fire and 
destroyed in part. Sherman had now flanked the city of 
Charleston, which so long had withstood the most persistent 
siege, and in consequence the Confederates abandoned it. 
Hardee fled from the city and the United States colored troops 
marched in and raised the stars and stripes upon the public 
buildings February 19th. Sherman pressed onward to North 
Carolina, leaving a track of destruction forty miles wide, until 
he came to Fayetteville, March 12th, where he found the 
concentrated forces under Johnston, numbering forty thousand. 
Sherman here halted three days for rest. After destroying the Confederate 
armory and the military stores, he marched on in two columns, as when in 
Georgia. The column under Slocum had a severe fight with Hardee's force 
of twenty thousand men, and won the victory March i6th. Slocum marched 
on toward Goldsboro', and was attacked by Johnston, whom he repulsed near 
Bentonville March i8th. Johnston had fully expected to crush Slocum 
before the main body could come to his aid, but that commander held his 
ground firmly, and after six desperate attempts to drive him back, Johnston 
gave up the contest at night fall. The next morning, the 19th, there were 
sixty thousand Federals in front of Johnston, who retreated. Sherman's 
whole army then reached Goldsboro', the point for which they had started. 
Sherman then hastened to City Point to confer with Grant and Meade, and 
returned to his command three days later. Here we will leave him for a 
while. 

After closing the port of Mobile, the only port left to which the blockade 
runners could gain access was Wilmington, North Carolina. A movement was 
made in December, 1864. Admiral D. D. Porter was in command of the 
fleet, and General Butler, the commander of that department, accompanied it. 
After various attempts the expedition was successful and took possession of 
the city. The Confederates had abandoned Fort Anderson, destroyed the 
privateers Tallahassee and Cliickamauga, lying in port, burned a vast 
amount of cotton and naval stores, and fled from the city February 22d, 
1865. In the Gulf Department the fleet under Farragut had prepared the 
way for the fall of Mobile, which was accomplished April 2d, 1865. W;i;'.t 



170 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1861 

were the army of the Potomac and General Lee's forces doing all this while? 
Let us see. 

Grant was holding Petersburg and Richmond in a vise-like grip, which 
prevented Lee from going to the assistance of Johnston. He dared not send 
him any men, for in so doing he would weaken the defense of the Confederate 
capital. The besiegers were pounding away with solid shot, and mortar 
shells upon the fortifications around the doomed cities, and daily extending 
the cordon around them, and cutting one after another of the railroads which 
fed them from the south. About the end of February, Sheridan with ten 
thousand cavalry left their head-quarters, and sweeping around Lee's flank 
scattered the forces under Early from Staunton March 2d, and destroyed the 
Lynchburg Railroad as far as Charlotteville. Then dividing into two columns, 
one to destroy the railroad further up and the other to destroy the James 
River Canal, accomplishing this, he swept around Lee's left and joined the 
army of the Potomac March 27th. 

Lee now made a desperate attempt to break through Grant's lines and 
join Johnston. A most desperate assault was made March 27th upon Fort 
Steadman, in front of Petersburg, held by the Ninth Corps. The Con- 
federates captured the fort and held it about four hours : then it was 
recaptured by the Federals, and Lee's last chance to break the Union lines 
was gone. The Union troops were nearer the city at night than when the 
attack was made in the morning. A grand movement was begun on March 
29th by General Sheridan with ten thousand cavalry, the Fifth Corps under 
Warren, and the Second under Hancock, while the Ninth, under Parke, held 
the long line of breast works. Lee saw his peril and made great haste to 
avert it if possible, but his army was disheartened by the hard work of the 
winter, the want of supplies, and the loss of all hope. A heavy fight ensued 
at Five Forks, in which Sheridan was forced back on Dinwiddle Court House, 
but held his ground, April 1st, 1865. On the evening of the same day a 
continuous and concentrated cannonade was opened upon Petersburg all 
along the line, and at early dawn of the 2d a part of the works were carried. 
The left had been successful, and when General Longstreet came down from 
Richmond to aid Lee he was too late to be of any service. Lee sent word 
to President Davis : " My lines are broken in three places ; we can hold 
Petersburg no longer: Richmond must be evacuated this evening." Davis 
and his cabinet fled to Dansville, where Lee hoped to join him, but Sheridan 
was in the way at Amelia Court House. Lee endeavored to escape and did 
some heavy fighting in the desperation of despair, but on the 9th of April, 
after one final charge to break the Federal lines at Appomatox Court House, 
he sent a flag of truce with an offer of surrender. Grant and Lee met under 
an apple tree on the grounds of W. McLean to make generous terms of 
surrender. 

Mr. Lincoln went to Richmond April 4th, and was enthusiastically 
received by all classes, the officers high in rank, and the poor colored men, 
and then returned to Washington happy that the cruel war was over. On the 



i865] THE CIVIL WAR. 171 

•evening of the 14th, while the patient man who had endured the most fearful 
strain of these anxious years, was quietly sitting in a private box in a public 
place of amusement, he was shot by an assassin, who entered from behind and 
•deliberately aimed his revolver at his unsuspecting victim. John Wilkes 
Booth, a play actor of moderate ability, and a warm secessionist, was the 
actor in this diabolical crime. The Confederate government were not 
responsible for the act, much less the brave men who had contested so many 
hard fought battles with the North. No man was found to openly applaud 
the act save here and there a solitary voice in -the North, which was quickly 
hushed by the intense popular excitement of the times. Andrew Johnson 
took the oath of President April 15, 1865, and entered at once upon the 
discharge of his duties. After some active operations in North Carolina 
Johnston asked for an armistice, proposing to refer the matter of settlement 
-of grievances to General Grant. The armistice was granted the 14th day of 
April, but the idea that the defeated chieftain should dictate terms caused 
Grant to order a resumption of hostilities on the 26th. This was followed by 
the surrender of Johnston on the same generous terms that had been given 
•General Lee. The fugitive President of the Confederacy was captured at 
Irwinsville, Georgia, May nth, and sent to Fortress Monroe, and there he was 
treated with marked kindness, until he was released under bail placed at one 
million dollars. 

Lieutenant-General Grant issued a patriotic and thrilling farewell address 
to the " Soldiers of the Armies of the United States," June 2d, 1865. The 
military prisons, where tens of thousands of Confederate prisoners of war 
were held for exchange, were opened and the men were sent to their homes 
at Government expense. The millions of liberated blacks were cared for by 
Government, and the nation, happy that peace had again dawned upon t]ie 
•distracted country, were loud in their demonstrations of joy. 

The most brilliant pageantry of modern times was held in W^ashington, 
consisting of a grand review of the Union armies of the Potomac and of 
the James, and of Sherman's army. This lasted two days, and then the 
task of disbanding the mighty Union army began. The rolls were made 
out, the arms were stacked, the artillery parked, and flags were furled. In 
an incredibly short time the hundreds of thousands of boys in blue had 
donned the garb of private citizens and returned to the avocations of peace. 
The great work of putting down armed resistance to the Government had 
been accomplished, and now the peaceful question of regulating the 
commercial, political and social relations of the States late in arms would 
be settled in the halls of Congress. 



vn. 




ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 



HAT was the position of these States which had 
passed the ordinance of secession ? The war had 
closed, but it had been maintained by the North that 
the States were all the while an integral part of the 
Union and had no power to dissolve their allegiance 
to it. What was to be done ? Should their territory- 
be held as if it had been conquered from a foe? 
They had endeavored to sever the bonds that bound them to the 
Government but had been prevented by the firm hand of armed 
law. They now claimed the right to resume their old places in 
Congress as if they had never attempted to secede. What should 
be done ? The Proclamation of Emancipation had given freedom 
only to those slaves whose masters were in arms on the first day 
of January, 1863. There were many others whose owners could 
hold them under that proclamation, but many of the slave States 
removed this impediment of their own account. Louisiana, Maryland, 
Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas had abolished it within their borders. 
An amendment to the Constitution of the United States had been submitted 
to the several States and adopted, in 1865, by more than the required 
number to make it a part of that instrument. 

Another amendment was submitted to the States, giving the fullest 
rights of American citizenship to all natural-born citizens and naturalized 
citizens of the United States. This was made the condition for the restora- 
tion of rights to those men who were seeking to return to their old position 
of citizenship. The questions growing out of all this were most delicate, 
and required the careful consideration of patriots ; but the institution which 
had caused all the controversy of the past, all the bloodshed and ruin which 
had come to both sections of the country, must be thoroughly eradicated 
now, and leave no seeds to spring up in after years. So the men who had 
won the fight thought, and the men who had yielded " to the stern necessity 
of war " came to accept the situation with what grace they could, and slowly 
the work went on to its completion. 

April 29th, 1865, President Johnson issued a proclamation removing" 
certain restrictions on commercial intercourse with the Southern States. 
May 20th, provisional governors were appointed for the States of North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. The 
order for rescinding the blockade was issued the 23d of June, another to still 



1866] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 175 

further remove the restriction on inter-state commerce August 29th. State 
prisoners were released October 12th. The "habeas corpus" was restored 
December ist. 

The provisional governors in the States, who were zealous to do all that 
could be done to reorganize their States, called conventions of delegates, 
chosen by citizens, who could take the oath required by the act of Congress. 
Before the session of Congress had met in December five States had ratified 
the proposed amendment to the Constitution, formed new State Constitutions, 
and provided for Representatives to Congress. 

When Congress met there arose at once a conflict between the President 
and the Legislative Department. This breach widened until it became an 
open rupture. The Cabinet resigned, with the exception of the Secretary of 
War, E. M. Stanton, who was advised to remain by his friends. On April 
2d, 1866, the Executive issued his proclamation declaring that the civil war 
was at an end. Tennessee was finally restored to the Union July 23d. 

There had been a French occupation of Mexico, in which Maximillian 
had assumed to be emperor of that country during the years of the war. 
On the 5th of April, 1865, our Government had informed the French Emperor 
that the continuation of the French troops in Mexico was objectionable, and 
at once the assurance came that they would be withdrawn. Trouble arose 
with Great Britain over the Fenian question, but it was peaceably adjusted. 

The elections throughout the Northern States showed that the people 
sustained the policy of Congress. The act conferring the elective franchise 
upon all citizens in the District of Columbia was passed December 14th. 
This was vetoed by the President, but passed over his veto by more than a 
two-thirds vote January 7th, 1867. The same day the preliminary steps 
were taken for the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, President of the United 
States, which resulted in a trial before the Senate, with the Chief Justice 
presiding, in May, 1868. 

The territory of Nebraska was admitted into the Union March 1st, 1867. 
There was intense excitement over several bills which the President vetoed 
and Congress at once passed over his veto. The thirty-ninth Congress closed 
its session March 3d and the fortieth Congress met at once. This Congress 
adjourned on March 31st, te meet on the first Wednesday in July. This was 
done, and then the two Houses adjourned July 20th, to meet again November 
2ist. In the mean time the President attempted to remove E. M. Stanton, 
Secretary of W'ar, who refused to resign. General Grant was ordered to 
assume the ofifice, which he did. The controversy went on until the impeach- 
ment of the President, and the trial lasted from March 5th to April 26th, 
when he escaped conviction by only one vote. Two-thirds of all the votes 
cast are required to convict. Every member was present. Thirty-five voted 
guilty and nineteen voted not guilty. 

The Secretary of State certified to the fact that the required number of 
States had adopted the amendment to the Constitution conferring civil rights 
upon all citizens, without regard to race or color. 



1/4 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1869 



The work of reorganization was completed in all the States save three, 
and the people of the South were betaking themselves to the task of 
retrieving their ruined fortunes, and thus comparative quiet was restored. 

An important treaty with China was ratified by Congress before its 
adjournment. The Indian question had caused some discussion, and an 
attempt to transfer the conduct of these affairs to the War Department failed. 

A fifteenth amendment \\as proposed by Congress Februar\' 26th, 1869, 
and submitted to the States, the requisite number of which ratified it soon 
after. 

General U. S. Grant was elected President of the United States, and 
Schuyler Colfax Vice-President, at the election of 1868, and on the 4th of 
March, 1869, took their oaths of office and entered upon the discharge of 
their duties. 

ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



t^ RESIDENT GRANT entered upon the task of 
finishing the incomplete work of reconstruction at 
once, and sent a special message to Congress April 
/th, 1869, in which he urged that body to adopt 
and maintain such measures as would effectually 
secure the ci\'il and political rights of all persons 
within the borders of the States not yet in full 
relations to the Union. Both the Executive and Legisla- 
tive Departments took every means in their power consist- 
ent with the provisions of the amended Constitution to 
restore the people who were not yet represented" in the 
National Congress to this position. This was finally accom- 
plished in 1872, when, on the 23d day of May, every seat 
that had been abdicated in 1861 by members from the Southern 
States was filled by legally elected members. May 22d a 
general Amnesty Bill was passed by Congress, removing the 
disabilities imposed by the Fourteenth Amendment from all 
persons, with the exceptions of those who had held positions in the 
National Government, the diplomatic corps, and the army and navy of 
the United States during the administration of James Buchanan. The 
political unity of the whole country was now established by law, and 
the rights of American citizenship conferred upon all native born and 
naturalized persons within the borders of the United States, with the 
exception of the comparative few mentioned above. 

The last tie which completed the railroad from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific was laid May lOth, 1869, and marked an important event in 
the social and commercial life of the United States. By this the States 
-on the eastern sea-board and the distant Pacific coast were brought 




iS77] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 175 

together, and a grand highway opened to communicate with the over- 
land trade from China and Japan. There was a general rejoicing as the 
last spike was driven, for communication was made with the entire 
telegraph system of the country, and the blows of the hammer was 
recorded in thousands of offices in ail parts of the land. 

A gigantic insurrection arose in Cuba with which many citizens of 
the United States were in close sympathy, but the Government wisely 
maintained neutrality, and measures were taken to suppress all fillibus- 
tering. A number of gunboats ordered by the Spanish Government were 
detained in the United States on suspicion that they were to be used 
against Peru. They were released. There arose quite intense excitement, 
and war was threatened, growing out of the seizure of the steamship 
]'irginiits in Cuba while flying the American flag, under the belief that 
she was bringing arms and supplies to the Cuban insurgents. A number 
of her passengers and her captain were shot by the Spanish authorities. 
The whole matter was finally settled by diplomacy. The Virginiiis was sunk 
at sea while being conveyed to the United States in a gale off Cape Fear. 

There was a violation of the neutrality laws in 1870 by a large 
band of Irishmen known as Fenians, who assembled to the number of 
three thousand on the borders of Canada in the State of Vermont. 
They invaded that province with the intention of freeing Ireland by 
some vague plan. The two governments suppressed the trouble, and our 
adopted Irish citizens have not since then attempted to violate the 
neutrality laws in force between the two countries. 

The United States had long desired some territory in the West 
Indies, and in 1869 a treaty was made with Hayti by which that island 
was to be annexed to the United States ; but the Senate did not ratify 
it, and thus the movement in that direction ceased to be a government 
measure. The survey of a proposed inter-oceanic canal across the Isthmus 
•of Darien was made by an exploration under Commander Selfridge 
in 1870. 

The year 1871 saw two of the most destructive fires, amounting to 
a national calamity, that ever visited this country. In October of that 
year the greater portion of Chicago was swept by the flames, which raged 
for forty-eight hours and devastated two thousand acres of territory and 
destroyed two hundred millions of property. This disaster called forth 
the sympathy and material aid of the whole civilized and commercial 
world. The next month, November, the fire-fiend swept away the very 
<:enter of Boston, destroying seventy-five millions of dollars. 

President Grant found at the opening of his first term the question 
of the Alabama claims an open one with the English Government. A 
joint commission was proposed by the United States, and England agreed. 
This "joint high commission" met at Washington May 8th, 1871, and 
completed a treaty, referring the whole matter at issue to a court of 
arbitration : this treaty was at once ratified by both countries. There 



176 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1869 

were four important questions involved: ist. The settlement of all claims 
by either government growing out of losses sustained during the Civil 
War. 2d. The permanent settlement of the American coast fisheries. 3d. 
The free navigation of certain rivers, including the St. Lawrence, and, 
4th. The settlement of the boundary' between Vancouver's Island and the 
mainland on the Pacific coast. The first question was referred to a 
tribunal of arbitration, which met at Geneva, Switzerland, December 
15th, 1871, and adjourned to June 15th, 1872. The final meeting of this 
tribunal was held September 14th, 1872. By their award Great Britain 
was to pay to the United States the sum of fifteen million five hundred 
thousand dollars in gold, as an award for losses sustained by the depre- 
dations of the Alabavia and other British-built privateers during the 
Civil War. The money was paid the following year. The fourth ques- 
tion was referred to the Emperor of Germany, who decided in favor of 
the United States, giving her the island of San Juan, which had been 
in dispute. 

The other important measures and events of General Grant's first 
term were the adoption of vv eather signals by the means of the jMorse 
telegraph under control of the National Signal Service. This has proved 
of inestimable value to American commerce and agriculture. The 
apportionment of representatives to Congress, by which there was one 
representative to every one hundred and thirty-seven thousand eight hundred 
population, making two hundred and eighty-three members in all. A 
new pension law was passed in aid of all Union soldiers who had 
suffered the loss of limbs or health in the late war. Early in 1873 the 
franking privilege was abolished, by which much money was saved to 
the Post-Office Department. In 1S72 an important embassy of twenty- 
one officials of the Chinese Government visited the United States, and 
the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia also came to this countr>'. Steps 
were taken to celebrate the centennial anniversary' of American inde- 
pendence, which would occur in 1S76, by a display at Philadelphia of 
the industries of all nations. 

The political campaign of 1872 was begun in May by the nomina- 
tion of Horace Greeley for President and B. Gratz Brown for Vice- 
President by a convention of "liberal Republicans." The Democratic 
party coalesced with them and ratified the same nominations July 9th.. 
The Republicans re-nominated General Grant for President and Henry 
Wilson for Vice-President June 5th. The election resulted in retaining 
General Grant for a second term and making jVIr. Wilson Vice-President. 

The relation of the troublesome Morman question to the general 
government agitated the public mind to some extent during this time. 
The system of polygamy was strongly intrenched in the very heart of 
the Continent, and a petition signed by twenty-five hundred women in 
its favor was presented to Congress. The elective franchise had been 
given to the female sex, and out of a large vote in favor of a State 



IS-/-] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 177 

Constitution nearly one-half were cast by women. There had been 
population enough in Utah for some time, but the Congress of the 
United States refused to admit her with the system of polygamy. 

The second term of General Grant as President began March 4th, 1873, 
and his nominations for Cabinet officers was at once confirmed by the Senate. 
The country was prosperous and rapidly recuperating from the sad effects of 
the war. The improvement in the feelings between the South and North 
was very marked, growing out of the leniency with which the Government 
treated those lately in arms against it. 

The Indian troubles assumed unusual proportions during the second term 
of Grant's administration. The humane policy inaugurated at the beginning 
of his first term had not resulted in all that was hoped for it. The trouble 
seemed to be in the fact that the Government treated the tribes of Indians as 
distinct nations, and made treaties with them, appointed agents and com- 
missioners, supplied them with bounties and subsidies, and compelled them 
to remain upon reservations set apart for them. The men who were acting 
as Indian agents were not always true men, and caused ill feelings on the part 
of the red men. Not far from three hundred thousand Indians are living in 
the States, of whom ninety-seven thousand are civilized and one hundred and 
twenty-five thousand half civilized. The remainder are in a savage state. 

General Custer was sent into the Dakota region in 1874 with a military 
and exploration expedition, and gave such a glowing account of the country as 
to excite the mining population to enter and prospect for the precious metals 
in great numbers. At the close of 1874 a bill was introduced into Congress 
to extinguish as much of the title to the Black Hills reservation as lay within 
the territory of Dakota. This greatly irritated the chiefs of the Sioux, for 
they, with great show of justice, regarded it as a step toward robbing them 
of their lawful domain. A national geologist, guarded by a large military 
escort, went to this region early in 1875, and the Indians began preparations 
for war. A strong force of troops was sent to the Yellowstone early in 1876, 
and were divided into three divisions, General A. H. Terry in chief command. 
The three columns were commanded by Generals Terry, Cooke and Gibbon, 
and intended to form the meshes of a net into which they expected to ensnare 
Sitting Bull, the warlike chief of the Sioux. General Gibbon had a fight 
with the Indians June 17th, in which he was obliged to fall back. General 
Custer, with General Terry and his staff, joined Gibbon on the Yellowstone, 
near Rise Bub Creek. Custer was ordered to make an attack with his force, 
which consisted of the Seventh United States Cavalrj'. He and Gibbon 
advanced to the Big Horn River, and Custer, coming up with the Indians first, 
gave them battle without waiting for Gibbon, and falling into an Indian 
ambush was killed, with the greater part of his men. Many gallant officers 
and men were slain in this terrible encounter, including Custer and two of his 
brothers and a brother-in-law. 

This was June 25th, 1876, and at once the Government sent a large force 
to this region. The Sioux evaded a contest with them and the troops went 

13 



178 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1869 

into winter quarters. Sitting Bull with his followers retired to the British 
Possessions, whither the United States troops could not follow him. 

The Government had a war with the Nez-Perce (or nose-pierced) Indians 
in 1875. They had been a peaceable and friendly tribe since the time of 
Jefferson, when the early explorers had come to their country, and were living 
happy and contented in the fertile Wallewa Valley. When agents were first 
sent to them they had been a little dissatisfied, but there had been no out- 
break. Now the settlers had begun to crowd upon them, and treaties were 
made with a part of the tribe to remove to a reservation, upon the Govern- 
ment paying them a certain fixed annuity. But an old chief, by the name of 
Joseph, who had taken no part in the treaty, refused to leave, and in 1873 
Grant had ordered that they should not be molested. When the avaricious 
whites began to encroach upon the domains of this tribe the President was 
induced to revoke this order, and in 1875 a force was sent to compel 
them to move at a given time. Before the time came Joseph became 
incensed at the encroachments of the white settlers and about twenty whites 
were murdered. War was begun, and lasted until the Indians were forced 
again to make a humiliating treaty in 1877. These measures embittered that 
part of the tribe which had not entered the war, and they became enemies of 
the Government. 

Sitting Bull, who had gone to the British Possessions with his warriors in 
1876, was an unwelcome guest there, but he remained stubborn and sullen. 
The United States sent several commissioners to treat with him, but he 
regarded them with contempt until 1 880. The British authorities had informed 
him that if he attempted to cross into the United States with hostile inten- 
tions that Government would join with the United States in making war 
upon him. Finally he offered, in 1880, to surrender with his braves, and a 
thousand of them did so in the early part of 1881, but their wily chieftain did 
not give himself up until some time later. Colorado, the " Centennial State," 
was admitted into the Union July 4th, 1876. 

The year 1876 was the " centennial year" and the year for a Presidential 
election. The celebration of the new year was very general throughout the 
United States with bonfires and the ringing of bells as the old year and 
century passed. The events of the political arena were the impeachment of 
Mr. Belknap, Secretary of War, for maladministration of office. He was 
acquitted in August. A resolution for submitting another amendment to the 
Constitution was passed in the House, but defeated in the Senate. At the 
end of June a resolution to provide for the coinage of ten millions of silver 
was passed, and very quickly silver became plenty. The fractional currency, 
which had come in use during the war, at once disappeared from circulation, 
June 1 6th Rutherford B. Hayes was nominated by the Republican party for 
the Presidency and William A. Wheeler for Vice-President. The 27th of 
the same month the Democratic party nominated Samuel J. Tilden and 
Thomas A. Hendricks for the same offices respectively, and a most exciting 
canvass was carried on until November, of which we will speak hereafter. 



i877] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 

THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 



17? 




"HERE had been a wide-spread desire to celebrate the 
centennial year in some way in which all nations could 
rejoice with the young Republic of the West. It was- 
proposed to hold a gigantic exposition of the arts, 
manufactures and industries of all nations at Phila- 
delphia. Invitations were sent to other governments 
and were very generally accepted. The early inception 
of the plan was opened by the communication of the Franklin 
Institute to the Mayor and other authorities of Philadelphia, 
for the use of Fairmount Park for an international exhibition. 
A committee of seven members of the municipal government 
proceeded to lay the subject before Congress. At the same 
time the Legislature of Pennsylvania sent a committee to 
^^7 Washington for the same purpose. March 3d, 1871, an act 
was passed empowering the President to appoint a commission 
\^ for superintending the exhibition, and an alternate commission 
from each State and Territory in the Union. These com. 
missions met at Philadelphia, March 4th, 1872, and found twenty-four States 
and three Territories represented there. "The United States Centennial 
Commission" was organized by the choice of Joseph R. Hawley, of Con- 
necticut, as president, with five vice-presidents, a temporary secretary, an 
executive committee and a solicitor. John S. Campbell afterward became 
permanent secretary. A Centennial Board of Finance was appointed 
in 1873, and on the 4th day of July of that year the authorities formally 
surrendered the grounds to the commission. 

There were five grand buildings erected, the Main Building, Art Galler}% 
Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall and Horticultural Hall. The applications 
for space from foreign governments was so great that it was seen that the 
work done by women would be thrown out or lost in the maze of other 
exhibits, and therefore the women of America raised thirty thousand dollars 
to build a Woman's Pavilion. The first five buildings named covered, in the 
aggregate, seventy-five acres of ground, and cost the sum of four million four 
hundred and forty-four thousand dollars. There were besides these men- 
tioned a number of other buildings erected by the several States and Terri- 
tories and by foreign nations, as well as by individual exhibitors, in all 
amounting to one hundred and ninety. 

At the beginning of 1876 there were lacking funds to the amount of 
one and a half millions to make it a success upon the plan that every one 
interested thought should be carried out. Congress advanced the money, 
with the proviso that it should be returned out of the proceeds of the 
Exposition. 

The exhibition was formally opened on the designated day, May loth, 



i8o 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1869 



■with imposing ceremonies. The President of the United States received the 
presentation of the ground and buildings from the President of the 
Centennial Commission, and the Stars and Stripes were unfurled upon the 
Main Building, to signify that the Exposition was opened to the public. The 

total number of ad- 
m iss ions to the 
grounds was 9,910,965, 
at an admission fee of 
fifty cents each. The 
month of October 
there were 2,663,911 
persons passed the 
several gates. Thirty- 
six States had exhi- 
bits, and most of the 
foreign governments. 
We will speak of the 
material effects of this 
Exposition further on. 
The day of the 
national election came, 
and the result was in 
ENGINE ROOM OF Exposii ION. great doubt, owing to 

sets of returns from each of the States of Louisiana, Florida 
South Carolina. Both parties claimed the presidency, and for the 




two 

and 



first time in the history of the country each party claimed the election of 
its candidate. One hundred and eighty-five votes in the Electoral College were 
necessary to a choice. It was at once conceded that Mr. Tilden had one 
hundred and eighty-four. Representative men from both parties went to the 
questionable States to watch the official counting of the votes. Excitement 
ran high, and there were muttered threats of bloodshed and revolution. The 
United States troops in Louisiana and South Carolina were under orders 
November loth to be in instant readiness to preserve the peace. The air of 
Washington was filled by mutual accusations and charges of fraud. The 
way to settle the matter in such a contingency was not clearly defined by the 
Constitution, and it was at length agreed to submit the decision of the 
question to an Electoral Commission, composed of an equal number of both 
parties. A committee similarly constituted was to report a bill to put this in 
effect. January i8th, 1877, they reported the bill, which provided that five 
members from the House and five from the Senate, with five justices of the 
Supreme Court, should constitute the Commission, to be presided over by the 
justice longest in commission. Both parties agreed that the decision of the 
board should be final. The bill was passed and signed by the President 
January 29th. The next day the Senate appointed Messrs. Edmonds, Morton, 
Frclingh'iyien, Thurman, and Bayard. The first three were Republicans, the 



IS;;] 



RFXONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 



iSi 



others Democrats. The House of Representatives appointed Messrs. Payne, 
Hunton, Abbot, Garfield, and Hoar, the first three of whom were Democrats, 
and the others Republicans. Associate Justices Chfford, Miller, Field, and 
Strong were appointed, and they chose Joseph P. Bradley for the fifth. They 
met in the Hall of Representatives February ist, and remained sitting until 
nearly the time for the session to close, March 3d, when they declared 
Rutherford B. Hayes duly elected President of the United States. 




ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 

HE nineteenth President was inaugurated March 5th, 

1877, Chief Justice VVaite administering the oath of 

office. He nominated his Cabinet, and the names were 

at once confirmed by the Senate. He began with a 

kindly conciliatory policy toward the South, and en- ^ 

deavored by every means to produce the best of feelings 

among the citizens of the distracted States. He 

appointed Mr. Key, of Tennessee, one of the military kaders 

in the Confederate army, Postmaster-General. The United 

States troops were removed from the Southern States, and left 

the management of their affairs in the hands of their own civil 

leaders. He pronounced in favor of civil service reform. An 

g%) extra session of the forty-fifth Congress had to be called 

■a:C?^l,^ October 15th, 1878, to provide for a deficiency of §35,000,000, 

^'^^~^ 'V which had not been appropriated to pay the expenses of 

iV/4l^\ jv "military service in the army. The object was not attained, for 

^3,°^ debates of an exciting partizan character consumed the time, 

and showed a disposition to block the wheels of government. A bill opposed 

to Chinese emigration was passed by Congress and vetoed by the President, 

and the opposition, having the power, failed to pass the appropriation bills. 

Another special session was called, to convene March 1 8th, 1879, when the 

House passed appropriation bills with such obnoxious provisions for 

extraneous matters that the President vetoed them, after which the bills were 

passed with the unsatisfactory measures omitted and he signed them. This 

session adjourned July ist. 

There was an immense exodus of negroes from the Lower Mississippi 
States and the Carolinas to Kansas and Indiana in 1S79, which caused 
Congress to appoint a committee to inquire into its cause. The results 
obtained did not prove in any way satisfactory. 

Specie payment was resumed January ist, 1879, ^fter having been 
suspended for eighteen years. The business of the country had been in a 
depressed condition since the great panic of 1873, but it now began to rapidly 
improve. In opposition to this measure there arose a " Greenback party." 
which clamored for an unlimited issue of irredeemable greenbacks, as the 



182 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1877 

national currency was called. They prophesied the financial ruin of the 
country to result from a specie currency, and have waited to the present time 
to see it come, but instead the country has been prospering in all departments. 
There was a fearful outbreak of the Ute Indians in 1879. ^^^ government 
agent, N. C. Meeker, was murdered, and for a time a general Indian uprising 
was feared. Major Thornburg was sent against them, but he and ten of his 
men were killed, and the rest surrounded for six days. The troops intrenched 
and held out until succor arrived, and soon the Utes were put down. A joint 
resolution, having for its design the enfranchisement of women, was introduced 
into the House of Representatives January 30th. The same in substance was 
presented to the Senate January 19th, 1880. It is known as the Sixteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution. 

The project of an inter-oceanic canal was revived by a visit to this 
country, in 1880, of M. de Lesseps, the engineer of the Suez Canal. He 
examined the Isthmus, and declared his belief in the feasibility of the 
scheme. The President sent a message to Congress March 8th, 1880, in 
which he apprised the world that it is the duty of the United States to assert 
and maintain such supervision over an enterprize of this kind as will protect 
our national interests. 

The national election of 1 880 was one of intense interest, and party 
spirit ran high. There were four candidates in the field. James A. Garfield 
and Chester A. Arthur were nominated by the Republicans June 2d. On 
the 9th, the Greenback party nominated James B. Weaver and Benjamin J. 
Chambers. The Prohibition party put in nomination Neal Dow and A. H. 
Thompson June 17th. The Democratic party assembled in Chicago June 
22d and nominated Winfield S. Hancock and William H. English. There is 
another fact which if not mentioned in history would be soon forgotten. 
There was another party in the field, whose candidates were John W. Phelps 
and Samuel C. Pomeroy. It was the Anti-masonic party. All of the four 
candidates for President had been generals in the Union army. The canvass 
was particularly spirited and bitter. The excitement ran high, and many 
rumors were put in circulation which had no foundation in fact. James A. 
Garfield was elected by an unquestionable majority. On the 28th day of 
February the President elect left his home in Mentor, Ohio, and in company 
with his family proceeded to Washington, accompanied by his aged mother. 

A special session of the Senate was called to confirm the nominations of 
the new President. 




i:5k 




iSCi] 



RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 




ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES A. GARFIELD. 

jHE inaugural address of President Garfield met 
with the general approbation of the country. The 
points were: equal protection for all without respect 
to race or color; universal education as a safeguard 
of suffrage; an honest coinage; the funding of the 
national debt at a lower rate of interest ; the prohibi- 
tion of polygamy and the regulation of the civil 
service. These were well received by all parties and the 
administration started off with high hopes. The Senate of 
the United States was so evenly divided between the two 
great parties that at the beginning of the administration of 
General Garfield there was quite an animated contest over 
, , Kg the appointment of officers for that body. This caused a 
1 Jjly dead-lock for a number of weeks. There had been a gentle- 
^i\^ man nominated by the President for the office of Collector 
''vw^%w^ of the port of New York who was distaseful to the senior 
^ ^ Senator from that State, Roscoe Conklin, and because the 
Senate confirmed the nomination he with his colleague resigned and 
left that great State unrepresented in the United States Senate til! an 
election of their successors. The Legislature of New York was in session 
at Albany, and at once there began an exciting canvass for the elec- 
tion of the United States Senators. This lasted for several weeks and 
finally resulted in the retirement of Mr. Conklin and his colleague to 
private life and the election of two other gentlemen to take their 
places. In the mean time Congress had been performing its regular work. 
A treaty with China concerning immigration and commerce, with the 
United States of Columbia in regard to extradition of criminals, a con- 
sular convention with Italy, a convention with Morocco and a reciprocal 
treaty with Japan concerning shipwrecked sailors had received the attention 
of Government. May i8th the Senate had postponed the resolution 
reasserting the Monroe doctrine. 

The country was startled on the eve of a general wide-spread 
celebration of the anniversary of American independence by the news 
that the President of the United States had been shot by an assassin 
and would probably die. This diabolical crime had been committed at 
the passenger depot of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad in Wash- 
ington Saturday morning, July 2d. Mr. J. G. Plaine, the Secretary of 
State, and the President were walking arm-in-arm through the waiting- 
room when two pistol shots were fired in quick succession from the 
rear. One shot penetrated the President's body, and he was carried 
wounded to a room in the second storv of the depot, and as soon as 
possible removed to the White House. The as.-^assin was at once arrested 



184 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1881 

by police officer Kearney and taken to the jail. He proved to be 
Charles J. Guiteau, a man of great self-conceit and little ability, who 
had been for months beseeching the President and the Secretary of 
State for an official appointment, and at length, becoming incensed at not 
receiving the attention he thought he merited he resolved upon revenge. 
It may have been that his unbalanced mind was inflamed by the 
discussions going on in the Republican party. The President, before 
leaving the depot where he had been shot, caused a telegram to be 
sent to Mrs. Garfield, who was at Long Branch, to relieve her of any 
undue anxiety in regard to his condition. It was in these words: 

"ThePresident desires me to say to you from him that he has been seriously hurt, how 
seriously he cannot yet say. He is himself and hopes you will come to him soon. He sends his 
love to you. A. F. Rockwell." 

Contrary to the expectations of the attending physicians he did not 
die at once, but seemed to rall\', and hopes were entertained of his 
final recovery. The deepest gloom was over the nation, and North and 
South alike felt the fearful shock of the blow. The glorious celebra- 
tions which were planned for July 4th in all parts of the country were 
abandoned. Messages of sympathy and condolence came from all parts 
of the world ; crowned heads in every country, American citizens in 
foreign lands, every form of association, commercial, social, benevolent, 
political and religious, vied with each other in tendering the deepest 
expressions of sympathy in this hour of sadness. Most heartfelt and 
touching were the kind words of the widowed Queen of Great Britain. 
Then followed the long and painful struggle for life which lasted for 
weary weeks. There were repeated relapses and rallyings, which caused 
the nation to alternate between the hope of final recovery and the 
despair of sorrow, until September i6th he had an alarming relapse. 
He was at Long Branch, where he had been carried in the most careful 
manner by a special train from Washington to the very door of the 
cottage where he was to die. The struggle for life had been heroic, 
persistent and patient, but the President must die. At 10:55 Monday, 
September 19th, he drew his last breath, and thus passed away the 
man who had risen from the humble position of a driver on the canal 
to the proudest station in the gift of a great people. This sad ending 
of an eventful life had filled the country with gloom and foreboding. 
Instantly the painful news was telegraphed all over the world, and the 
messages of condolence and kindest .sympathy poured in from every 
quarter of the globe. The noble Queen of England sent a message to 
her not less noble sister in America, Mrs. Garfield, in the following words: 

" Words cannot express the deep sympathy I feel for you at this moment. May God support 
and comfort you as He alone can. The Queen." 

The Cabinet at once summoned Vice President Arthur to take 



1883] 



RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 



1 8= 



the oath of office without delay, and he did so in a very quiet manner 
before night. The oath was administered by Judge John R. Brady, of 
the Supreme Court, in New York. The remains of the dead President 
were conveyed to Washington, where they lay in state in the rotunda 
of the Capitol for two days. The floral tributes were of the most 
beautiful and expressive kind, and throughout the entire country the 
tokens of mourning were displayed from public and private buildings. 
The mansions of the rich and the homes of the humble poor, the large 
commercial palaces of business and the humble stand of the street 
vender, the massive factory of the wealthy corporation and the shop 
of the mechanic, all alike were decked with some emblem of mourning. 
The South vied with the North, and the whole country united in their 
heartfelt expressions of sorrow. 




ADMINISTRATION OF CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 

WIT ^55 *i - 

^'i„^4,3g?^^?5^ RESIDENT ARTHUR was formally inaugurated in 
Washington September 22d. The oath was re-admin- 
istered by Chief Justice Waite in the presence of Mr. 
Garfield's Cabinet, ex-Presidents Grant and Hayes, 
General Sherman and some others. He then delivered 
a brief inaugural address, and immediately issued a proc- 
amation appointing Monday, September 26th, as a day 
« of fasting, humiliation and prayer. He called an extra session of 
the Senate, to meet October loth. 

The body of the late President was removed from Washing- 
ton, after appropriate religious services, and conveyed by a 
military guard, accompanied by the Congressional Committee 
and prominent citizens. Among the many emblems which were 
presented was a floral ladder, on the successive rounds of which 
were the words, "Chester, Hiram, Williams, Ohio State Senator, 
Colonel, General, Congressman, United States Senator, President 
and Martyr." These names indicated the upward steps by 
which James A. Garfield had advanced in his public career. Chester was the 
seat of an obscure seminary where he began his education. Hiram is the 
name of an insignificant college where he was a teacher, and Williams is the 
college where he graduated. The other titles explain themselves. 

The last public services over the remains were performed in the presence 
of two hundred thousand citizens in the cemetery at Cleveland, Ohio. There 
were services in all the cities and towns in the country at the same time. On 
the 23d of October the body was quietly transferred from the receiving tomb 
to the private vault of Captain L. T. Schofield, in Lake View Cemeteiy. 

The special session of the Senate met October loth, and the President's 



i86 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [iSSi 

nominations for Cabinet officers were confirmed, as follows: E. T. Freling- 
huysen for Secretary of State; Chas. J. Folger, Secretary of Treasury; 
Samuel J. Kirkwood, Secretary of the Interior; Robert T. Lincoln, Secretary 
of War; Wm. A. Hunt, Secretary of Navy; Benjamin H. Brewster. 
Attorney-General, and Timothy O. Howe Postmaster-General. Other nomi- 
nations were confirmed and the routine business of the Executive Department, 
which, to some extent, had been interrupted by the illness and death of the 
late President, was resumed. The Senate had considerable trouble in organ- 
ization, growing out of the even division of the two great parties. It ended 
in the election of David Davis, of Illinois, as President pro tempore of the 
Senate. 

The centennial celebration of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, 
at the close of the War of the Revolution, was an occasion of great national 
interest. A grand naval review and a military display on shore, with histo- 
rical addresses and public festivities, were the main features of the occasion. 
The French Government v.-as represented by a large number of officials and a 
national vessel. Among the distinguished guests were lineal descendants of 
Count D'Estaing, Lafayette and Rochambeau, who had aided the patriots in 
their early struggle. Other nations of Europe were also represented. The 
President and Cabinet with the diplomatic corps of the nations of the world 
took part in the occasion. The celebration began October i8th, 1881, and 
lasted for a number of days. 

The trial of Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield, was begun in 
November of the same year. The widest latitude was given the accused to 
present his defense. The counsel were allowed ample time to prepare their 
answer, and the brother-in-law of the prisoner undertook the case for him, 
associated with Mr. Reed. After a fair, impartial and lengthy trial, in which 
the plea of insanity was strongly urged, Guiteau was found guilty of murder 
and sentenced to be hanged June 30th, 1882. Two ineffectual attempts to 
shoot the prisoner were made during the progress of the case ; the first by a 
civilian, whose name was Wm. Jones, on the 26th of November, who shot at 
him while being conveyed in a van from the court house to the jail. The 
second attempt was by Sergeant Mason, of the military guard, who shot 
through the window of the prisoner's cell and failed to injure him. 

They were both brought to trial and punished as their cases demanded. 
A number of unsuccessful measures were taken by the family and legal 
advisers of Guiteau to set aside the verdict, obtain a new trial, or induce 
President Arthur to interpose his executive clemency in favor of the con- 
demned man, but all of no avail, and on the appointed day he was hanged. 
To the last he displayed his egotism and excessive self-conceit by making a 
characteristic speech from the gallows on which he was executed June 30th, 
1882. 

Congress met in regular session in December, 1881, and entered upon a 
long and heated debate upon political questions. The people were demanding 
a revision of the tariff and a reduction of the burdens of taxation occasioned 



i8S3] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 187 

by the immense war debt and the heavy expenditures of government. They 
were demanding reform in the civil service and purity in the administration 
of pubhc affairs. The people of the Pacific States were clamoring for a 
national law to prevent the immigration of Chinese into the country. 
The opportunity for Congress to distinguish itself in passing measures of 
great public benefit was never more plainly presented. The session lasted 
for nearly eight months, and when at last it adjourned the country took one 
long breath of relief. What had been done ? The subject of revision of the 
tariff was referred to a commission, to sit during the recess of Congress and 
receive testimony. The internal revenue tax was removed from perfumery 
and proprietary medicines. Appropriation bills, exceeding the amounts of 
similar bills passed by the previous Congress to the sum of $76,000,000, had 
been passed. The anti-Chinese immigration bill demanded by the Pacific States 
was passed and vetoed by the President, and then another bill, in modified 
form, passed. "A River and Harbor Bill," appropriating the immense sum of 
§19,000,000 for internal improvements, was passed and vetoed, and then passed 
over the President's veto. The great interest of ship-building, which had been 
entirely prostrate since the war, received some attention. And with this 
record they had adjourned and gone before the people for their verdict. 

The celebrated trial of tlie " Star Route conspirators" was pushed with 
great vigor in the United States S.upreme Court. This grew out of excessive 
and fraudulent contracts for the postal service, in which a number of promi- 
nent men were implicated. The first trial resulted in the conviction of two 
of the minor offenders, the acquittal of two, one of whom was dead, and a 
disagreement of the jury in regard to the principals in the alleged conspiracy 
to defraud the Government. 

Congress, we should have said, granted a special pension to the widow of 
President Abraham Lincoln of fifteen thousand dollars March 15th, 18S1, but 
that sadly unfortunate lady died a few months after. She had never 
recovered from the severe shock caused by the sudden blow of her honored 
husband's assassination. 

General U. S. Grant, the hero of the Civil War and the President for two 
terms, had retired from public life after receiving many tokens of esteem from 
his fellow-countrymen. Ex-President Hayes at the end of his official term 
had retired to quiet life, from which he emerged at the funeral of President 
Garfield, only to return again to the retirement of domestic life. 

The political outlook of the countiy was somewhat disturbed, and the 
canvass in most of the States waged bitterly. In the great States of Penn- 
sylvania, New York and Ohio there was much dissatisfaction in the ranks of 
the Republican party. In the State of Maine, the home of James G. Blaine, 
the ex-Secretary of State, the contest waged fiercely. All the Congressmen 
in this State who had been suspected of being friendly in any way to the 
River and Harbor Bill were defeated. In Vermont the majority was in favor 
of the Republican party. In Georgia, Alexander H. Stevens, formerly 
"Vice President of the Confederate States," was elected governor, and the 



ISS 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[iSSi 



Democratic nominees for Congress were also elected by heavy majorities. In 
Ohio the election wag a most disastrous defeat to the friends and apologists 
of the " River and Harbor Bill." A large number of the States held their 
election for members of Congress on the 7th of November, which resulted in a 
most sweeping defeat for the Administration in all parts of the country. In 
the States of New York and Pennsylvania, where the most strenuous efforts 
were made on the part of the Government to elect its candidates, the 
opposition had immense majorities. The complexion of the National House 
of Representatives was changed to Democratic, while all who voted in favor 
of the Harbor and River Bill were either defeated or returned with meager 
majorities. Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and a 
majority of the States elected Democratic governors. The rebuke to the 
stalwart wing of the Republican party was most decisive. 

The XLVII. Congress opened its final session on the first Monday in 
December, and the annual message of the President was read in both Houses. 
The President first alluded to the pleasant relations with all the foreign 
governments, and expressed the hope that the differences between the United 
States and Spain in regard to naturalization may be speedily settled. 
Negotiations had also been opened with the Swiss Government upon the 
same matter. He also announced that the Ottoman Porte had not yet 
assented to the construction which the United States had put upon the treaty 
of i860 in regard to jurisdictional rights in Turkey. The recommendation 
of the United States to Chili in regard to her difificulties with Peru have been 
declined, and any steps toward the formation of a Protectorate is in 
opposition to the avowed policy of our Government. The President 
recommended that especial attention be paid to the interests of ship-building, 
which had declined since the war. 



FINANCIAL EXHIBIT FOR 1882. 

The ordinary revenues of the Government from all sources for the year 
ending June 30, 1882, amounted to $403,525,250.28, and the ordinary 
expenditures were $258,981,439.58. The surplus revenue was $145,513,810.71, 
which, with an amount drawn for the cash balance in the Treasury of 
$27,737>694-84. makes $166,281,505.55. 



Of this there was applied to the redemption of bonds to 



the sinking fund, .... 

Of fractional currency for the sinking fund, 
Of Loan of July and August, 1861, 
Of Loan of March, 1863, 
Of Funded loan of 188 1, 
Of Loan of 1858, .... 
Of Loan of February, 1861, . 
Of Five Twenties of 1862, 
Of Five Twenties of 1864, 
Of Five Twenties of 1865, 
Of Ten Forties of 1864, 



$60,079,150 00 

.58,705,587 55 

. 62,572,050 00 

. 4,472,90000 

•37.194-45000 

1,000 00 

303,000 00 

2,100 00 

7,400 00 

6,500 00 

. 254,55000 



i883] RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 189 

Of Consuls of 1S65, 86,45000 

Of Consuls of 1S67, 407,25000 

Of Consuls of 1868, 141,40000 

Of Oregon War Debt, 675,250 00 

Of Old Demand Compound Interest and Other Notes, 18,350 00 



Total, §224,927,387 55 

The foreign commerce of the United States during the last fiscal year, 
including imports and exports of merchandise and specie, was as follows • 

EXPORTS. 

Merchandise, $750,542,257 00 

Specie, 47,417,479 00 

Total, S797>959.736 00 

IMPORTS. 

Merchandise, $724,639,574 00 

Specie, 42,472,390 00 

Total, $767,111,96400 

Excess of exports over imports of merchandise, . $25,902,683 00 

This excess is less than it has been before for any of the previous six 
years. 

The Congress set at work in earnest to transact the business of the 
session, and at once several important measures were introduced and put 
upon their passage. A bill favoring civil service reform, one in regard to 
American shipping, for a reduction of postage, and many other reforms. 

The difficulties between the United States and Mexico, growing out of 
the unsettled condition of the border, were referred to a commission. 
Romero, the Mexican minister at Washington, was one of the commissioners 
to negotiate a new treaty between Mexico and the United States. 

The Duke of Newcastle, a member of the English Government, made a 
visit to Washington in December, 1882. He dined with the British minister, 
and visited the Senate Monday, December nth, to obser\'e its methods. 

The United States vessel Jcannctte had been sent upon an expedition to 
the Arctic regions by co-operation of the Government and a private citizen, 
James G. Bennett, proprietor of the New York Herald. No tidings had been 
received from them for more than two years, when the world was electrified 
by a telegram from the coast of Siberia that survivors of the party were 
being aided by the friendly Russians. Captain James H. Long and his men 
had been obliged to leave their ship in a sinking condition, and with three 
small boats traverse the immense ice fields to the open sea. Two boat loads 
landed upon the barren and uninhabited coast of Siberia. One boat load had 
been swamped in a gale, and the party with Captain Long were frozen after 
landing. One boat's crew and two men of the other finally returned to the 
United States in 1882 and were the recipients of many honors. 

The two hundredth anniversary of the landing of William Penn, in 



I go 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



[1S56 



Pennsylvania, was celebrated in Philadelphia in a becoming manner by the 
city government and various organizations of citizens October 25th and 26th, 
18S2. It was the occasion for fine military and civic display, the delivery of 
historical and patriotic addresses, and unusual festivities of great interest. 

PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT SINCE THE 

CIVIL WAR. 

'HE war had been practically ended with the surrender 
of Generals Lee and Johnston in April, 1865, and both 
sections of the country rejoiced at the return of peace. 
The South had suffered most heavily and lost her all. 
The wealthy families were reduced to the verge of 
necessity. Their slaves were free, their plantations 
uncultivated, and their prospects for the future were 
dark indeed. Where the land remained in possession of its former 
owners they had not the means to cultivate it, nor the money to 
buy seed. The worthless Confederate bonds and currency in 
which they had invested or which had been forced upon them 
^^•as of no use to them now. Their towns and villages were 
I5 filled with brave men who were shattered in life and limb, and 
had no government to care for them. Their industries were 
.. , , i' paralyzed and their commerce destroyed, and their political 
)Q\j^ '/ status was as yet uncertain. The first thought was for personal 
^ ' preservation, and all classes bent their energies to the raising of 

the first crop of cotton, for which the manufacturers of the world were 
waiting. The demand for cotton and their ability to supply this demand was 
the only line of hope. Bravely and grandly did they seize upon it. Could it 
be produced without slave labor? This was a problem as yet unsolved. It 
must be done. The freedman was given an interest in the growing crop, and 
he labored with more zest than he had ever shown for the kindest master. 
He was dependent upon his own resources now, and with no owner to care 
for him his first experience in the new condition of things was at best a hard 
one. Even with the kindest disposition the whites were unable to aid the 
blacks. The bounty of the Government was extended to all alike. The 
United States issued rations of food and clothing to both blacks and whites 
in many places, and thus the first season after the return of peace was passed. 
The cotton crop brought a good market. The deserted factories in the North 
sprang into action, and the production of cotton goods, which had been 
suspended for years, was resumed once more. 

In the North the industries had been somewhat disarranged, but not to 
the extent they had been in the South. The manufacturing of all manner of 
army supplies had been pushed to its utmost limit. Iron factories had been 
running day and night. The demand of the army for clothing and 




•■ RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 191 

equipments had been immense ; but that was all changed by the disbanding 
of the arm}-, and the industries of the North must be turned to other 
channels. The vast numbers of returned soldiers must be provided with 
means of livelihood and positions for peaceful employment. There was an 
abundance of money in the country, but it was below par value and prices 
were high. There had been a disposition to withdraw capital invested in 
mercantile and manufacturing pursuits. But with the return of specie 
pa}'ments and depreciation in prices came a general impulse for investments. 
The capital of the North was moving southward. Cotton mills and other 
factories were being erected nearer to the supply of the raw material. There 
arose a period of railroad development and thousands of miles of new 
roads belted the country. Real estate was advancing in price and the era of 
speculation was upon the nation before they were aware of it. All the while 
tile South was recuperating most rapidly. The vast war debt was being 
reduced and its interest lessened. The dawn of specie payment was like a 
healthful tonic, when all at once, like a thunder-clap from a cloudless sky, 
burst the ominous mutterings of that terrific black Friday that sent so many 
towering fortunes tottering in their fall. The long panic of weary years 
followed, in which the public was taught to contract private expenditures 
and perform business upon solid principles. The lesson was a bitter but a 
needful one, and the people were taught by a hard experience that inflated 
values and high living are destructive to financial success. Slowly the public 
confidence returned, and the revival of business began and assumed a healthy 
tone. 

The Centennial Exposition had displayed to the amazed countries of the 
world the wonderful progress in all the arts, manufactures and improvements 
of the age, the United States leading in nearly every department of trade, 
and at the same time showing the old world her desirable advancement in 
the refined arts and scientific discoveries. In machinery and labor-saving 
appliances she had distanced the nations of Europe. While in defensive 
and offensive military armature she had given them lessons which they were 
but too ready to learn and improve upon. A grand impetus was given by 
this exhibition to all the industries of the United States, while it opened up 
the markets of the world as never before. The fertile wheat and corn- 
growing sections of the great central Western States, as well as the cotton- 
growing South, found a ready market in the old world. 

The export trade of the United States began shortly after the 
v/ar to grow into enormous dimensions, and far exceeded its imports. 
The exports in 1881 reached the amount of $898,142,891 and the imports 
$729,608,823, as against exports in i860 $373,189,274 and imports 
$335,233,232. These figures are expressive of the vast producing power 
of the nation and the demand for the luxuries and necessities of life 
produced by other countries. The increase in positive values in the 
country would far exceed these figures. The public debt has been 
reduced at the rate of nearly one hundred million per year, and refunded 



192 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the principal at a low rate of interest. The cities of the South and 
the North have shared in the general prosperity and regained the lost 
ground caused by the war. The enterprise of the whole country has 
been stimulated by a healthful rivalry in business, and the bonds of 
commercial intercouse are fast blotting them out. The following extract 
show the real feeling of the South, especially among its young men: 

Frovi the Century. 

The Southern States are now rearing a large number of young men before whom the outlook is 
bright. Some of them are sons of the old ruling families, but many of them have sprung from the 
lower and middle classes. They enjoy the advantages of poverty ; they have no money to spend in 
luxuries or diversions ; they have fortunes to retrieve or to gain ; they have grown up since the war, 
and have inherited less than could be e.\pected of its resentments. " Well," said a bright fellow at the 
close of a college commencement in Virginia last .Summer, " Lee and Jackson have been turned over 
in their graves but once to-day." The sigh of relief with which he said it indicates the feeling of manv 
of these young men. They keep no grudges and have no wish to fight the war over again. The senti- 
ment of patriotism is getting a deep root in their natures. 

Yet they are full of faith in the future of their own section. Well they may be. During their 
lifetime the industry of the South has been revolutionized, and the results already achieved are marvel- 
ous. An era of prosperity has begun ; and there are few intelligent men at the South to-day who will 
not at once confess that it is destined to be a far brighter era than they have ever seen. Free labor is 
unlocking the wealth of farms and mines and falling waters in a way that slave-labor never could have 
done. New machinery, new methods are bringing in a new day. In the midst of the stir and move- 
ment of this industrial revolution these young men are growing up. Hope and e.xpectation are in the 
air; the stern discipline of poverty goads them on, and the promise of great success allures them. All 
the conditions are favorable for the development of strong character; and any one who will visit the 
Southern colleges and schools will find in them a generation of students alert, vigorous, manly and 
tremendously in earnest. Probably they do not spend, on an average, one-third as much money per 
capita as is spent by the students of the New England colleges ; and in the refinements of scholarship 
the average Southern student would be found inferior to the average Northern student; but they are 
making the most of their opportunities. They ought to have better opportunities. Most of the South- 
ern colleges and schools are crippled for lack of funds, and much more of the flood of Northern bounty 
might well be turned southward, to the endowment of schools and colleges for whites as well as blacks. 
The generous sentiment of the young South would thus be strengthened, and the bonds of union more 
firmly joined. But whatever may be done in this direction it is evident that a race of exceptional moral 
earnestness and mental vigor is now growing up in the South, and that it is sure to be heard from. If 
the young fellows in the Northern colleges expect to hold their own in the competition for leadership, 
they must devote less of their resources to base ball and rovi'ing and champagne suppers and come down 
to business. 

The "Cotton Exposition" in the beautiful and rejuvinated city of 
Atlanta, Georgia, in October, 1882, was a gigantic exhibition of the 
resources of the great cotton-growing States, and displayed the rapid 
stride made by a people but a few years ago prostrated by an exhaus- 
tive and unsuccessful struggle. The vast domain of the South-west is 
being rapidly opened up by the means of railroad communications and 
the influx of immigration. The crowded denizens of the old world are 
thronging in inconceivable numbers to the western republic as never 
before in the history of the country. The number of foreign immi- 
grants landed reached to the sum total of 669,431 human beings of every 
nation under heaven. Since 1820, when the Government first began to 
keep the official account, there have come to the United States no less 
than 10,808,189 persons of foreign birth to find homes in this country. 



RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS. 



192 



In addition to these there have come 232,283 Chinese, who have been less 
welcome and more harshly treated than any of the rest. 

This vast heterogeneous mass of men and women of different races 
and types has become assimilated and equal under the law. They 
have aided much in developing the resources of the land, and added 
to its material wealth in many directions. The vast improvement in 
every department of science has kept pace with the demands of the age. 
The telephone, the audiphone, the electric-light have been invented during 
the period of which we are writing. The future success of this republic 
is assured if the institutions of its founders are maintained and its 
constitution and laws are kept unimpaired. The purity of the ballot box, 
the maintenance of public honor, the education of the masses and the 
civilization and Christianization of the foreign element and of the aborigines 
are demanded by the spirit of the hour. The great blots still remaining upon 
the national character — the permission of polygamy and the treatment 
of the Indian — should be removed. The sanctity of the marriage relation 
and observance of the Sabbath should be required. Public faith with 
nations, tribes and individuals is imperatively demanded, and then the 
fondest dreams of the most enthusiastic well-wisher of his country will 
be realized. Private integrity, sobriety and industry with the qualities 
above mentioned will secure us from the fate of the old republics that tottered 
to their fall as soon as these were waiting. 



JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD, 



THE MARTYRED HERO, 



Atlantic's waves with ceaseless rolling 

In ebbing tide of sorrow break. 
As miifHed bells at midnight tolling 

The saddened nation quickly wake. 
The Lord of Life the word hath spoken, 

*• lie still, O throbbing heart of pain ; * 
The golden wheels at once are broken, 

And Death hath touched the mighty brain. 

The vital forces strong had striven 

For many painful weeks in vain ; 
His column fair at length is riven, 

For deatii hath torn the veil in twain. 
He bravely yielded to the spoiler, 

And won at last his well-earned rest, 
From home of wealth, or humble toiler, 

The answer comes, '* God s will is best." 

In city mansions heads are bending, 

From manly eyes the teardrops start, 
And country homes their ericfs are blending, 

For death hath pierced the nation's heart. 
Palmettos join their mournful sighing 

In union with the northern pine, 
And east and west together vieing 

Their richest tributes for him twine. 



Two oceans join their swelling surges 

To mourn our nation's honored dead; 
From northern lakes to gulf the dirges 

Rise o'er the martyred hero s bed. 
From mountain slope to flowing river 

The mournful requiems softly rise, 
For saddened hearts with sorrow quiver 

As home the winged arrow flies. 

A deep, impressive silence resting 

On thronged mart and busy mill, 
A solemn awe each soul investing, — 

The mighty rush of trade is still. 
A world with sympathy is heaving 

To share with us a nations grief. 
As gray and blue alike are weaving 

A garland for our fallen chief. 

O God, we thank Thee that the nation 

May claim the ho])e Thy promise gives, 
And find in this our consolation, 

The God of justice ever lives. 
Our trembling haruls in silence clasping 

Above the martyr s sacred bier, 
A new-born hope 'mid sorrow grasping, 

As cloud-rifts show a sky more clear. 

J. H. 



m POSITION AIOIt the NATIOHS-LESm TAUGHT 




E are standing to-day like the Roman god of the gates 
with our faces turned both ways. With one we are 
gazing in subdued tenderness upon the sacred memo- 
ries of the past, and stretching our hands with their 
wealth of flowers to do honor to our hero dead : with 
the other we turn to the hopeful future, and offer our 
arms still strong to bear its burdens and brave to share 
its battles. For those who have nobly fallen in the 
line of duty the end has come, and to them the fullest praise should 
be given ; but for us who remain, the bugle only sounds the need- 
ful truce, while with reverent tread we bear our comrades to their 
resting place and strew their graves with the richest perfume of each 
returning spring. For us the respite from the conflict is but a brief 
one. The present makes its ever increasing demands upon us, and 
^ calls for brave hearts with noble purpose true. 

Scarcely do the echoes of the burial note and the " volley of 
honor" die upon the air when the thrilling tones of the bugle sound " O/i to 
the battle .' " If we thought the truce meant a peace we were most sadly 
mistaken, for we shall find that the contest wages still. The battle-field only 
has changed, and with it has changed the relation of the contending forces. 
The armies late arrayed against each other are divided on a different line now. 
Happily the issues of that contest are settled, but the conflict of the people 
against the enemies of popular government wages still. The recent civil war 
was but one phase of the gigantic struggle which began with our existence as 
a people, a single scene of the national drama which opened when the genius 
of liberty " rang up the curtain," and our fathers pronounced the grand old 
prelude in their immortal bill of rights, " THE DECLARATION OF iNDEl'EX- 
DENCE." 

The first battalions of the army have engaged in conflicts fierce and long 
and they won the victory ; but their triumph was not destined to give com- 
plete security to them who came after them. The enemies of popular lib- 
erty have been encountered and overcome on many a hotly contested battle- 
field, but after each successive victory new allies of tyranny have as suddenly 
arisen ; new assaults have been prepared ; new tactics have been employed, 
and still new enemies pour down upon the army of freedom. Conquering 
field after field from their foes the patriot soldiers see the frowning hill-tops 

* An address delivered on Decoration day by the Author. 



LESSONS IN OUR HISTORY. 195 

beyond, still black with threatening warriors pressing forward to meet them 
on other fields — and "tlie end is not yet." 

The march of freedom's host is like that of a conquering army into a 
fortress that has been breached. The men in the vanguard may fall by thou- 
sands. Was their fall a failure? Nay, nay ; for their bodies but helped to 
bridge the trench over which their comrades have marched to a complete 
victor>'. The dying exhortation of the falling heroes to those who came after 
them has been like that of noble Lawrence, carried wounded unto death from 
the deck of his vessel, " Don't give up the ship ! " Each succeeding genera- 
tion will find that " ETERNAL VIGILANCE IS THE PRICE OF LIBERTY," and 
this price must ever be paid by those who would retain it ! 

" This last successful experiment of self-government by the people" is 
still on trial before the ages, and the severest tests are now being applied, 
the strength of our institutions is put to its utmost tension. The cable of 
law that holds our ship of State is being stretched by two opposite forces : 
already do the strands smoke in their intense friction around the pierhead of 
the constitution. On the one side unbridled license exerts the full force of 
its diabolic strength ; the love of money and of power, on the other, puts 
forth all its energy to break the bonds of lawful restraint. Human greed and 
human lust have united to bid defiance to the right, — twin monsters more 
hideous than mythology ever painted or poet ever dreamed. They have 
given birth to a whole brood of bantlings as repulsive as themselves — the 
demagogues in society and Church and State ; communism with its red hand, 
Ishmael-like arrayed against every man, and every man's hand arrayed against 
it ; the Moloch of wealth seizing in its fiery arms the noblest children of our 
race; the Goliath of intemperance bidding defiance to the Church of God 
and the cries of humanity ; the shameless goddess. Free Love, and her wanton 
sister, Easy Divorce, who have polluted with their fetid breath the purest 
sanctuary of home ; dark-robed Skepticism assuming the name of Human 
Reason, who would pluck with skeleton hand the brightest star from our sky 
and throw her own black mantle of night over the horizon that hides our 
hopes of immortality; license which would bring to our land the Sunday of 
Europe and rob us of all the sacred memories which hallow " the day of rest ; " 
the corrupting and festering influences that are sapping the manhood of the 
nation ; the shameless immoralities and ill-concealed dishonesties which so 
frequently startle us with their public outcroppings are enough to sicken the 
heart and unnerve the arm of the patriot if he has not the same confidence in 
the God of battles that our fathers had. These are the foes with which we 
still have to contend, in their new disguises and upon their own well chosen 
and well fortified battle ground. 

Shall we overcome them ? In the words of the flaming orator of our early 
struggle, " I have no way of judging of the future, but by the past." 

Look back on the line of history along which this " Young Republic of 
the West " has come, and with the broad chart of ancient and modern times 
before you find a parallel to it all if you can ! But little more than a century 



196 UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

has passed since thirteen isolated and dependent colonies, with no community 
of aims and no mutual bond save a common grievance in the oppression of 
the Home Government, came to agitate the question of an appeal to arms ; 
and to-day, as regards moral force and material strength, they stand united as 
the first power in Christendom. The thirteen States have increased to (will 
some little boy or girl who has the latest edition of geography please to tell 
me ?) — I am unable to keep up the count they come in so fast. We have a 
new star in our flag-to-day, I believe, and the number is thirty-eight. 

In view of the facts in our remarkable histoiy we may well say with the 
inspired Hebrew bard, " He hath not dealt so with any nation." 

Can we fathom the problems of Providence in reference to this American 
people? Has not Jehovah some mighty design in all this wonderful develop- 
ment ? Can we not see the plainest indications all along the highway of the 
past of the great fact which the crazy old king of Babylon acknowledged, 
■' God doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhab- 
itants of the earth ; and none can stay his hand " ? Let us look back upon 
our history and trace, if we can, these developments of Providence. If we 
can do this we will not have misspent the few moments devoted to-day to 
this exercise. ' 

Here was a continent lying in a wilderness state, the only inhabitants 
were the wild beasts and scarcely less wild aborigines who roamed, unre- 
strained, over its extensive plains and through its grand old forests. Here 
were the same noble rivers, the same broad inland seas, the wide extended 
prairie with its rich deposit of soil, the hidden wealth of minerals in the 
bowels of the earth, water-power capable of carrying all the machinery of 
the world to-day ; the same lofty mountains with their magnificent scenery, 
the grandest upon which the sun e'er shines, all as we behold them now, and 
yet for fifteen hundred years after the birth of Christ it is an unknown world. 
And why was this? Look at the condition of the more civilized parts of the 
world for these long centuries and you will find the answer, — the dark black 
night of a thousand years which had come over Europe, when moral, religious 
and social darkness rested on all the people so dense that scarcely a ray of 
light e'er penetrated it. Then man was working out the bitter problem of the 
relation of the Church to the State, in the union of temporal and spiritual 
power: and the fearful solution was well nigh given in the loss of civil and 
religious liberty. 

Many abortive attempts were made to regain that which had been lost, 
but the heel of the tyrant at Rome was upon the neck of the masses, and the 
flickering fires, uncertain and disconcerted, which arose ever and anon amid 
the surrounding gloom went quickly out and made the darkness all the more 
intense for their short-lived burning. These questions had an ample theater 
in the old world ; the new was held in reserve for grander trials of those 
questions which are closely interwoven with our world-wide humanity. At 
length the echoes of the hammer of Luther as he nailed his bold Theses to 
the church door at Wirtemberg awoke the people from their sleep of 



LESSONS IN OUR HISTORY. 197 

centuries, a sleep which had cost them so much, in which the chains of an 
irksome bondage were being riven harder and harder still about them. But 
the strength of the sleeping giant was aroused and the bands were rent 
asunder. And now, when this spirit of freedom from the chains which had 
bound body and mind and heart alike, had swept across the newly awakened 
nations, and men were seeking for some asylum from the bondage, God 
himself sent the hardy Genoan navigator in his Spanish ships to open the way 
to such a land as this. And he did it. 

When "the fullness of times" had come he sent the right people to 
colonize the land. The stern unyielding Puritan with hardy hand and living 
faith He sent to Plymouth, the Dutchman with his love for " Faderland " to 
Manhattan ; the Quaker with charitable heart and uncompromising integrity 
to build up the City of Brotherly Love ; the fervent, zealous Catholic to the 
shores of the Chesapeake ; the vanguard of all, led by the boldest of pioneers, to 
Jamestown ; the Huguenots of sunny France to the no less sunny clime of 
Georgia and the Carolinas. And these were they who laid the foundation of 
the civil government we now enjoy. Do we not see the plainest indications 
that right here, in this new world upon whose eastern shores these feeble 
colonies were planted, there were questions to be solved which were to affect 
all the race ? The variety of creed and nationality which characterized the 
pioneers was an arrangement of Providence to hold each in check, and 
thus prepare for the coming struggle which so soon was to be theirs. The 
seeds were planted, but it would take years of storm and sunshine, of tempest 
and calm, of anxious watching and bitterest disappointment, before that seed 
would germinate and develop into a full grown tree beneath whose shadow 
the nations of the earth might rest. This period which preceded the 
revolution is rich in indication of manifest providences. All the wars with 
the Indians, with the P"rench, and the wilderness, too, were but as a training- 
school for the contest which they were to have. All this was but the 
formative, concentrative period which was to try their young strength and 
develop it to maturity. 

Like the infant Hercules crawling from his cradle to throttle the twin 
serpents one in either hand did these young colonies contend with difficulties 
which might well appall the stoutest heart, and they overcame them. The 
savage climate and the more savage aborigines had well nigh annihilated the 
little band. But still they stood by the daring enterprise which seemed so 
perilous. A race of warriors was thus reared hardy of muscle and quick of 
sight, with indomitable courage and perseverance such as was soon to try the 
mettle of the well-trained soldiers of the Mother Country. The conflict 
came. Statesmen and generals and patriot soldiers were not wanting for the 
conflict. 

The night was long and dark and almost starless, but still they watched 
with unequaled patience for the coming morning. Seven weary years of war 
with all its sad experiences of want and misery, of sacrifice and blood came 
upon them. Then it was that these noble men needed such trust in God as 



198 UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

the Puritan had instilled into his faith, such indomitable perseverance as the 
Germanic element infused with the burning zeal of the Catholic, and the 
inimitable patience of the Huguenot under affliction. And that there was a 
wise design in this protracted war is seen in the fact that the colonies were 
thus knit together as never before by a community of sacrifice and suffering 
in the same cause, and so the bond which was to hold them in sympathy was 
more and more firmly cemented. At length the glorious dawn was ushered 
in ; faint and uncertain at first, like the earliest break of day, but surely 
coming, till soon the sun of liberty rises full and clear on this western land. 
Clouds, dark and portentous, may cross his track and hide him from our view, 
but never again will Ue set till all the world has felt the warmth which comes 
from his beams. 

Now follows the formative period, when there needed men of wise heads 
and honest hearts to lay the foundations of government upon an unyielding 
basis. That these men who gave us such a document as " The Constitution 
of the United States " were eminently fitted for such a task is amply proven 
by the experimental workings of this Magna Charta of human rights for 
more than a century. 

Wisdom and patriotism in a very marked degree were the characteristics 
of the Federal Congress in the early days of our history. It was most 
eminently fitting that George Washington, who had commanded the army 
during the war of the Revolution, should be the chosen one to inaugurate the 
new government. No other man in all history had so united in himself every 
characteristic of nature's nobleman as he. Right worthy the trust confided to 
him by a grateful people he displayed to the wondering governments of 
Europe an example unequaled by anything which had preceded it. They 
sneeringly had asked the question : Can the American people establish a 
republic after a protracted war, arousing as war was prone to do an ambition 
for power in the breast of the successful chieftain ? The farewell address of 
George Washington to his countrymen, an immortal production, is the 
unhesitating answer to their questioning. 

Now succeeds another period of development unparalleled in all that the 
world had before seen. The government had demonstrated its adaptation tcv 
the wants of the masses ; it had shown its power to suppress domestic turmoil, 
and now the country is at peace. The pursuits of agriculture, of manufactures 
and of commerce receive the attention of the people. Wealth and commer- 
cial influence very rapidly increase, while throughout all the land there are 
being built up the monuments of intelligence and industry. The liberal arts 
and sciences, these problems which touch the vital interest of such a govern- 
ment as ours, receive ample attention. Our prosperity at home is not equaled 
by our national standing abroad. 

Two of the chief powers of Europe were at war, and while we remain 
strictly neutral they each trample upon our rights as a nation. The one takes 
from our ships of war, by a pretended right of search, men to fill her own 
depleted navy, and they both in turn, by their unrighteous embargoes, unite 



LESSONS IN OUR HISTORY. 199 

to cripple our young commerce. France recedes from her position and makes 
restitution ; but the mother land, who has ever behaved in a very step- 
motherly way toward her vigorous child, is compelled to yield only by force 
of arms. In this war, disastrous to both countries, we were enabled to assert 
our national dignity, and to command the respect of other nationalities. That 
this war was needful is clearly seen by the marked increase of our commercial 
interests and the respect paid to our flag by all other powers ; a result whicli 
immediately followed. And, again, through a period of years the develop- 
ment of our country keeps pace with the loftiest imagination. State after 
State takes its place beside its fellow in the Union. Territory is acquired by 
peaceful purchase from Spain (of Florida) and from France (of Louisiana). 
Te.xas gravitates to us by the fortunes of war, and the golden land, with 
Arizona and New Mexico, are wrested from a sister republic by the force of 
arms. 

The strong arm of the nation has proved its power in subduing the Indi- 
ans and bringing the Nullifiers of Georgia and the Carolinas to bow to right- 
ful authority. The republic has, by the providence of God, taken a foremost 
place among the powers of the world, and with an enlightenment and liberal- 
ism unknown before has spread her broad arms to the nations and welcomed 
the oppressed of every clime and race to her " asylum of the free." 

Freedom, civil and religious, was proclaimed, in theory, at least, through 
all the land. And thus, as we have hastily sketched, a nation of patriots had 
conquered their independence and had laid the foundation of the best govern- 
ment the world has ever seen. They had developed into a powerful people, 
prosperous at home and respected abroad. This prosperity they had earned 
by their industry, this respect they had won by their swords from willing 
lips. For, while the bitterest hatred of old dynasties in the Eastern World 
still lay smouldering ill-concealed beneath their pretended friendliness, they 
only dared to flatter the rising power they so intensely hated. All the peo- 
ples of the Old World were looking on in amazement to see this experiment 
of popular government prove so successful as it did. Sister republics sprang 
up in the New World modeled upon our Constitution. The trembling mon- 
archies of Europe felt the moral force of such a fact in history as " the United 
States of America" came to be, and they all desired our destruction while 
they feared the power of our example, for the masses in every country where 
a general intelligence prevailed had caught the spirit of liberty borne to them 
on every Western wind, and should the fact be established beyond question 
that the entire people were capable of self-government they would be most likely 
to follow the example thus set them. This caused the monarchs of Europe 
to wear uneasy crowns as they sat upon their tottering thrones. And they 
said, " A violent internal commotion will rend this country asunder, and its 
disrupted States will form rival independencies, and thus the power which we 
fear will ere long overshadow us will be destroyed." This they said and this 
they sincerely hoped. There seemed to be the prospect of a speedy realiza- 
tion of tlieir fond anticipation, for there had been one dark spot upon our 



200 UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

otherwise fair escutcheon. It stood out bold and black and repulsive, and 
made us a by-word to the nations. It was this: While we proclaimed univer- 
sal liberty in our immortal Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, 
there was all the time within our own borders a race of serfs cut off from all 
these inalienable rights which we had demanded for every man. 

How to deal with this forbidding question which we had inherited from 
the mother country was a perplexing one to our wisest and best statesmen. 
Good men of all shades of political opinion could not fail to see the fearful 
cloud, small and inauspicious at first, but spreading wider and wider still was 
threatening our destruction. The contest must come sooner or later. Politi- 
cal extremists in either section of the country hastened it to its final issue. 
An appeal to arms, rash as it was wicked, was made. The flag of our common 
country was insulted and disgraced. The authority of the government 
despised and its rightful allegiance set aside. Nothing in all the world would 
give more satisfaction to the enemies of civil liberty in the Eastern continent 
than to see the rebellion prove a success. And so they threw the whole force 
of their sympathy and moral aid, under cover of a pretended neutrality, on 
the side of those who sought to overthrow the government. In this they 
were disappointed. The unrighteous appeal to arms was most disastrous to 
thosQ who made it. The authority of the government was asserted by the 
overthrow of the armed rebellion. The strength of the citizen soldiery which 
the nation could call into the field was appalling to other nationahties. More 
than two million of names were borne upon the muster rolls of the United 
States army, a greater force than Napoleon could command in the height of 
his power. The grand review of the army at the close of the war was a spec- 
tacle unequaled in history. One hundred and eighty thousand strong, they 
marched past the president and the generals of the army, and that, too, when 
many thousands of soldiers equally brave were scattered throughout the 
South. Never before had the world seen such a sight. But these men were 
ready to stack their arms, pack their artillery, and return to the avocations of 
peace. In an incredibly short time they were disbanded ; and to-day you 
will find them in the workshops, the fields, the stores, and all the marts of 
trade throughout our land, from its one extreme to the other. 

Those questions which were left to be solved as the outgrowth of the war 
are too new and too recent for us to discuss them without bias by our former 
opinions. That ultimately they will be wrought out to a successful issue is 
the hope, yes, the settled belief of every man who recognizes the truth that 
" God ruleth among the nations of the earth," and " he maketh even the 
wrath of man to praise him." Is there no design of Providence in all this 
wonderful history of the past and aspect of the present ? This free land, 
extending from sea to sea, with no abutting nation upon either frontier, 
capable of containing one hundred millions of inhabitants, offers now a home 
to the oppressed of the world ; and they are hastening to its shores, spreading 
over its wide extent, and peopling its towns and villages. The Celtic and 
Teutonic, the Anglo-Saxon and his Germanic cousin, the Scandinavian of 



LESSONS IN OUR HISTORY. 201 

Northern Europe and the child of sunny France and Italy. The Asiatic and 
the African are beneath a common flag to-day. The teeming population of 
Europe and Asia came of their own accord, the one part across the ocean 
which laves our Eastern shores, and the other wafted by the softer gales of 
the Pacific to the golden shores of the west. And now they find an equal 
home as they strike glad hands across our free America. 

The dusky sons of Africa are here as well. They came, it is true, as 
Joseph came to the land of Egypt, " whose feet they hurt with fetters." But, 
thank God, those fetters are stricken off to-day. Here there is ample protec- 
tion for all religions alike, the true and the false. The Protestant and the 
Catholic, the Mohammedan and Pagan, the Jew and the Christian of every 
name are on an equal footing before the law. The only conflict there is 
between them is the conflict of argument and ideas, and with a general diffu- 
sion of intelligence among the people the true religion has nothing to fear in 
the unequal contest with the false. If America in the future will keep her 
ballot-box pure and her people rightly educated she need fear nothing that 
that future has in store for her. 

The great duty of America to-day is to civilize, to educate and to christian- 
ize her people. The first of these results will follow from the other two 
united. God has sent the world to our feet for us to enlighten, to instruct, 
and to convert to him. When the great question came to the church of 
Christ, " How shall we bring all men to a knowledge of the truth ? 
How shall we send the light of a pure religion to all the world ? " God him- 
self answered it by sending the nations to us. Here they are to-day, and we 
must christianize them or they will paganize us. The Church can do her great 
part in this work so long as the strong arm of the Government protects the 
freedom of speech and disseminates the light of intelligence to the masses. 
These, then, are the bold questions which affect this common humanity of 
ours, and which America is working out for the world to-day : freedom of 
person and conscience ; universal equality and the brotherhood of the race ; 
the civilization and redemption of all men. If she be true to her trust the 
grandest place in history awaits her, but if she prove false, she will find 
written on the walls of her proudest palaces bj' the finger of Deity, " Thou art 
weighed in the balances and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is given to 
another," which, may heaven forbid ! 

Let us who are here to-day prize, as we should, the blessed inheritance 
which has come down to us from the past. Let us remember that the blood 
of three generations cements the bond which binds this union with its indis- 
soluble chain. The altar of our liberty has been baptized with the richest and 
the noblest blood which ever flowed in human veins. 

The patriots of 1776, of 1812, and of 1861 have vied with each other in 
sacrifices for a common country, and poured out their blood like water to 
enrich the soil from which has sprung this tree of liberty. Long may it flour- 
ish, striking its roots deeper and deeper still into the earth ; higher yet may 
it lift its towering top into the heavens as its branches, outstretching far and 



202 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



wide, throw their protection over all the land alike. Nor storms, nor 
tempests' fiercest power can now tear up the giant oak. If e'er it shall 
decay, the worm which feeds upon its life will be the cause. But may God 
forbid. 

Let us, then, swear renewed fidelity to our institutions, to the Constitu- 
tion and the laws of our united land. And with that stern old patriot, 
Andrew Jackson, answer back to the world, " The Unioi^ must and shall be 
preserved." 



OUR HERO DEAD. 



God's eternal stars are keeping 

Faithful watch above our dead. 
And His clouds, in pity weeping, 

Bathe each sleeping hero's bed ; 
Thus her misty mantle throwing 

'Round each sacred resting-place, 
Nature keenest sorrow showing, 

Veils awhile her tearful face. 

Day and night, with varied changes. 

Hasten through the restless years. 
Swift-winged time, whose flight estranges 

Friendship's mingled joys and fears. 
Heals the wounds of bitter anguish 

Caused by deeds of angry strife, 
When the hearts in sorrow languish 

Brings its buried hopes to life. 

But our vows can not be broken 

Lightly as the spider's thread ; 
Vows in earnest whispers spoken. 

When we laid away our dead. 
And those deeds are not forgotten 

Which they wrought amid the brave, — 
Deeds of manly hearts begotten. 

Shedding luster o'er each grave. 

Low the gentle winds are sighing. 

Through the cypress and the pine, 
O'er the holy dust now lying 

Where their shadows dark entwine. 
And the soft and mournful cadence 

Of their plaintive, sad refrain. 
Breathing like a heavenly presence. 

Sing the tribute to our slain. 



Where the Nazarene was taken, 

Laid within a new-made grave. 
There by friend and foe forsaken, 

Was there not a spirit brave. 
Who had found the situation 

In the dismal midnight gloom, 
Taking then his humble station, 

Warden of the Saviour's tomb ? 

Thus would I, the office prizing. 

Stand beside our honored dead, 
While within my bosom rising. 

Thoughts that glory's luster shed. 
For the sacred voice would listen, 

"Weep not here with heart forlorn, 
Though like pearls your tea-drops glisten, 

Hail with joy the risen morn." 

Long in sorrow we have waited. 

For the passing of the storm, 
And the morning so belated. 

Lo ! there comes an angel form, 
Bidding us " No more in sadness 

Shed our bitter, scalding tears, 
For in that bright world of gladness 

Light shall shine through countless years." 

See ! the thinning clouds, now rifted 

Here and there, disclose the blue : 
Where their parted folds have lifted 

Breaks the sun upon our view. 
And his promise for the morrow 

Cheers our hearts amid the gloom ; 
Bids us banish everj' sorrow ; 

Sheds a radiance 'round their tomb. 

J. H. B. 



ADMINISTRATION OF CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



203 



THE DEATH OF PUBLIC MEN IN 1883. 

A number of prominent men died during the early months of 1883, of 
whom the following deserve special mention : Honorable Marshal Jewell, of 
Connecticut, formerly United States minister to the court of St. Petersburg, 
postmaster-general and governor of his adopted State, died at his residence in 
Hartford, Connecticut, upon the loth day of February. He was born in New 
Hampshire, October 20th, 1825, where he was bred to the trade of a tanner. 
He established business in Hartford in 1850 as a manufacturer of leather 
belting. His talents, public spirit, and interest in State affairs gave him great 
prominence. He was governor of the State in 1869, 1871, 1872. In 1873 he 
went as minister to Russia, where he learned the secret of manufacturing 
Russia leather, which he imparted to the public of the United States. In 
1874 he was appointed postmaster-general, which office he resigned before the 
close of the administration of President Grant. 

Honorable Edwin D. Morgan, of New York, was born at Washington, Berk- 
shire County, Massachusetts, I'ebruary 8th, 181 1. His family were plain, simple 
farmers of that sterling type which seldom 
fails to make its mark in this country when 
opportunity serves, either in the field or in 
the councils of the State. In 1828 he entered 
into business as a clerk in a wholesale grocery 
in Hartford, Connecticut, and in 1831 became 
a partner in the business. Five years after- 
ward he came to New York, where he es- 
tablished a most successful house, and where 
he soon began to exercise that influence 
which was to be expected from his upright- 
ness and abilities. In 1843-53 he was elected 
a State senator for New York ; and became 
governor from 1859 *o 1862, performing his 
duties during that trying period with an in- 1 
telligence, a patriotism and a decision which' 
were acknowledged by all parties. In 1861 
-62 he became a major-general of volunteers 
without pay, investing the post with character- 
istics creditable alike to himself and to his country. In 1863-69 Mr. Morgan 
was elected to the United States senate, and in 1S65 he was offered the 
position of secretary of the treasury, which he then declined. He was 
appointed to this position after Mr. Arthur became president, and accepted 
the office. He also died in February. 

Honorable Alexander H. Stephens^ governor of the State of Georgia, 
died at Atlanta in that State, March 4th. His life had been long^over 71 




HON. EDWIN D. MORGAN. 



204 UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

years— active, and in some respects heroic. He was the son of a planter, and 
was born on his father's plantation in Georgia. When he was fourteen years old 
his father died, but good friends came to his aid and lent him money to enable 
him to procure an education. Though he had intended to study theology he 
took to the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1834. He was very successful, 
and though he was in delicate health and weighed only ninety-six pounds he was 
active and ambitious. In 1836 he was elected to the State assembly, to which 
he was five times re-elected. He declined a re-election in 1841, but was, 
returned to the State senate in 1842. In 1843 he was elected to congress, 
where he remained till 1859. During the exciting events preceding the civil 
war years, though a firm advocate of State sovereignty he was by no means 
a disunionist. In i860 he warmly advocated the election of Douglas. When 
Lincoln was elected, and a majority of the Georgia legislation favored 
secession, Mr. Stephens was outspoken against it. But when Georgia seceded 
he went with her, and was elected vice-president of the confederacy. In 1866 
he was elected United States senator from Georgia, but was not allowed to 
take his seat. In 1872 he was elected to congress, where he remained till 
1882, retiring on his own desire. He was elected governor of Georgia in the 
fall of 1882. Mr. Stephens possessed many fine qualities. He was amiable, 
courageous, eloquent and upright. His popularity in Georgia was very great! 
and the mourning for him there was general and sincere. 

Postmaster-General Timothy O. Howe died at his home in the city of 
Madison, Wisconsin, March 25th, 1883. Mr. Howe has been for many years, 
one of the most prominent republicans in national politics. He was the fore- 
most of Wisconsin's politicians. He was a New Englander by birth, having 
been born in Livermore, Oxford county, Maine, on February 7th, 1816. He 
received an academical education at the Readfield Seminary, studied law and 
was admitted to the bar in 1839. He settled at Readfield and was elected to 
the legislature of Maine in 1845. In the latter part of that year he removed 
to Green Bay, Wis., and was elected a circuit judge in 1850, holding that 
ofifice until 1859, when he resigned. In 1861 he was elected a United States 
senator from Wisconsin for the term ending March 4th, 1867. In January, 
1867, he was re-elected to the senate for the term ending in 1873. At the 
conclusion of this term Mr. Howe returned to Wisconsin and engaged in 
business, from which he was called by President Arthur to the postmaster- 
generalship. As postmaster-general his management has been marked by the 
institution of many measures of economy and of reform in the postal service. 
Peter Cooper, an eminent philanthropist of New York, died in that city 
April 4th, 18S3, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. He had been born 
in humble circumstances, and by his own endeavors had attained a high social 
and public position. He founded and endowed the Cooper Institute for the 
advancement of education among the people. He was esteemed as a man of 
exalted moral character and extensive public spirit. 



DECLAEATION OF MPENDENCE. 



In Congress, July 4th, 1776. 
By the Representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled, 
A DECLARATION. 



HEN, in the course of human events, it becomes 
necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with another, and to 
assume among the powers of the earth the separate 
and equal station to which the laws of nature and of 
nature's God entitled them, a decent respect for the 
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare 
ich impel them to the separation. 
We hold these truths to be self-evident : — that all men are 
reated equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
nalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the 
of happiness ; that, to secure these rights, governments are 
:ed among men, deriving their just powers from the consent 
governed ; that whenever any form of government becomes 
:tive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to 
abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such 
principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most 
likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate 
that governments long established should not be changed for light and 
transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind 
are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves 
by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long 
train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, 
evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it 
is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for 
their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies ; 
and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former sys- 
tem of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a 
history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the 
establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let 
facts be submitted to a candid world. 




2o6 UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for 
the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing 
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be 
obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to 
them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large 
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of repre- 
sentation in the legislature — -a right inestimable to them, and formidable to 
tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncom- 
fortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the 
sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with 
manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to 
be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have 
returned to the people at large for their exercise ; the State remaining, in the 
mean time, exposed to all the danger of invasion from without and convulsions 
within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for that 
purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass 
others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new 
appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to 
laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their 
offices and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of 
officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the 
consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the 
civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to 
our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their 
acts of pretended legislation, — 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders 
-which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world • 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury: 

For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offenses : 

For abolishing the free system of English law in a neighboring province. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 207 

establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so 
as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the 
same absolute rule into these colonies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and 
altering fundamentally the forms of our government : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested 
with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protection, 
and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and 
destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries, to 
complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun, with 
circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralled in the most barbarous 
ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens taken captive on the high seas, 
to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their 
friends and brethren or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic Insurrections among us, and has endeavored to 
bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose 
known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, 
and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the 
most humble terms ; our petitions have been answered only by repeated 
injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may 
define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We 
have warned them, from time to time, of attempts made by their legislature 
to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them 
of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have 
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured 
them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, 
which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. 
They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We 
must therefore acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, 
and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war — in peace, 
friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in 
general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world 
for the rectitude of our intentions, do in the name and by the authority of 
the good people of these colonies solemnly publish and declare that these 
United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States ; 
that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all 
political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and 
ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as independent States, they have full 



2o8 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, 
and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. 
And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protec- 
tion of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our 
fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

Signed by order and in behalf of the Congress. 

JOHN HANCOCK, President. 

Attested, CHARLES THOMPSON, Secretary. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
JosiAH Bartlett, 
William Whipple, 
Matthew Thornton. 

MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 

Samuel Adams, 
John Adams, 
Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

RHODE ISLAND, Etc, 
Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery. 

CONNECTICUT. 
Roger Sherman, 
Samuel Huntington, 
William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

NEW YORK. 

William Floyd, 
Philip Livingston, 
Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 

NEW JERSEY. 
Richard Stockton, 
John Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 
Abraham Clark. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 
Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 



James Smith, 
George Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

DELAWARE. 
CjEsar Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas M'Kean. 

MARYLAND. 

Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, 
Thomas Stone, 
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, 

VIRGINIA. 
George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, Jr., 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 

SOUTH CAROLINA, 
Edward Rutledge, 
Thomas Heyward, Jr., 
Thomas Lynch, Jr., 
Arthur Middleton. 

GEORGIA. 

Button Gwinnett, 
Lyman Hall, 
George Walton. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE IITED STATES OF AMEEICA. 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, 
estabHsh justice, insure domestic tranquilHty, provide for the common de- 
fense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of 
the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section I. — All legislative powers herein grauited shall be vested in a 
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of 
Representatives. 

Sec. II. — I. The House of Representatives shall be composed of mem- 
bers chosen every second year by the people of the several States ; and the 
electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the 
most numerous branch of the State legislature. 

2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained the 
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of the State in which he 
shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the sev- 
eral States which may be included within this Union, according to their 
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number 
of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and ex- 
cluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual 
enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the 
Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, 
in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives 
shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at 
least one representative ; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State 
■of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three ; Massachusetts, eight ; 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, one ; Connecticut, five ; Nezv York, 
six; New Jersey, four; Pennsylvania, eight; Dclaivare, one; Maryland, six; 
Virginia, ten ; North Carolina, five ; Smith Carolina, five ; Georgia, three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the ex- 
ecutive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other 
officers, and thall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Sec. III. — I. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 

14 



2IO UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years ; and 
each senator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first 
election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, into three classes. The 
seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the 
second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and the 
third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen 
every second year ; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, dur- 
ing the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make 
temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall 
then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained the age of 
thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be 
chosen. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be president of the 
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president pro 
tempore in the absence of the vice-president, or when he shall exercise the 
ofifice of President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When 
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the 
President of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside; and no 
person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the mem- 
bers present. 

7. Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than to 
removal from ofifice, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any ofifice of honor, 
trust, or profit under the United States ; but the party convicted shall, never- 
theless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, 
according to law. 

Sec. IV. — The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators 
and representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature there- 
of ; but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, 
except as to the places of choosing senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in everj^ year ; and such 
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law 
appoint a different day. 

Sec. V. — I. Each house shall be judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualifications of its own members ; and a majority of each shall constitute a 
quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, 
and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members in such 
manner and under such penalties as each house may provide. 

2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its 
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, 
expel a member. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 211 

3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and, from time to 
time, publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment, 
require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house on 
any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on 
the journal. 

4. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the con- 
sent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place 
than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Sec. VI. — I. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensa- 
tion for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury 
of the United States. They shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, and 
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the 
session of their respective houses, and in going to or returning from the same ; 
and for any speech or debate in either house they shall not be questioned in 
any other place. 

2. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was 
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United 
States which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have 
been increased, during such time ; and no person holding any office under the 
United States shall be a member of either house during his continuance in 
office. 

Sec. VII. — I. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of 
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as 
on other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and 
the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the 
United States; if he approve, he shall sign it ; but if not, he shall return it, 
with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall 
enter the objections at large on their journal and proceed to reconsider it. 
If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the 
bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house ; and if 
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such 
cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays ; and the 
names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the 
journals of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the 
President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented 
to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return ; in which case it shall not 
be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the Sen- 
ate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of 
adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States, and 
before the same shall take effect shall be approved by him or, being disap- 
proved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of 



212 UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

Representatives, according to tlie rules and limitations prescribed in the case 
of a bill. 

Sec. VIII. — The Congress shall have power — 

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; to pay the 
debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United 
States : but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the 
United States : 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States : 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several 
States, and with the Indian tribes : 

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the 
subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United States : 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix 
the standard of weights and measures: 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and 
current coin of the United States: 

7. To establish post-ofiSces and post-roads : 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for 
limited times, to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective 
writings and discoveries : 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court : 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high 
seas, and offenses against the law of nations: 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules 
concerning captures on land and water : 

12. To raise and support armies ; but no appropriation of money to that 
use shall be for a longer term than two years : 

13. To provide and maintain a navy: 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and 
naval forces : 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the la\\s of the 
Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions : 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and 
for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the 
United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the 
officers, and the authority of training the militia, according to the discipline 
prescribed by Congress: 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over such 
district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may by cessionof particular States, 
and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the United 
States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent 
of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of 
forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings : And, 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying 
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this con- 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 213 

stitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or 
officer thereof. 

Sec. IX. — I. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
States, now e.xisting, shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by 
the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight ; but a 
tax or duty may be imposed on such importations, not exceeding ten dollars 
for each person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, 
unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require 

it. ^,., 

3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be passed. ' ^" '' 

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to 
the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. No 
preference shall be given, by any regulation of commerce or revenue, to the 
ports of one State over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound to or from 
one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of 
appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the 
receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to 
time. 

7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; and no 
person holding any ofifice of profit or trust under them shall, without the 
consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of 
any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State. 

Sec. X. — I. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confed- 
eration ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of 
credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; 
pass any bill of attainder, e.x post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of 
contracts ; or grant any title of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imposts or 
duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for 
executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce of all duties and imposts 
laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasurj- 
of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and 
control of the Congress. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, 
lay any duty on tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter 
into any agreement or compact with another State or with a foreign poAver, 
or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will 
not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Sec. I. — I. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his ofifice during the term of four 



214 UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be 
elected as follows : 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof 
may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and 
representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress : but no 
senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under 
the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 

3. [Annulled. See Amendments, art. I2.] 

4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the 
day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same 
throughout the United States. 

5. No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United 
States at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be eligible to the 
office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who 
shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a 
resident within the United States. 

6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, 
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of said office, the 
same shall devolve on the Vice-President ; and the Congress may by law 
provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the 
President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, 
and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a 
President shall be elected. 

7. The President shall, at stated timc.^, receive for his services a com- 
pensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period 
for which he shall have been elected ; and he shall not receive, within that 
period, any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the follow- 
ing oath or affirmation : — 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office 
of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, 
preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States." 

Sec. II. — I. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army 
and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when 
called into the actual service of the United States : he may require the 
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive depart- 
ments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices ; and 
he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the 
United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen- 
ate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur; and 
he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate shall 
appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, judges of the 
supreme court, and all other officers of the United States whose appoint- 
ments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 215 

by law. But the Congress may, bj' law, vest the appointment of such inferior 
officers as they think proper in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in 
t!;e heads of departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, which shall 
expire at the end of their next session. 

Sec. III. — He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress informa- 
tion of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordi- 
nary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disa- 
greement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may 
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassa- 
dors, and other public ministers : he shall take care that the laws be faithfully 
executed ; and shall commission all the officers of the United States. 

Sec. IV. — The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the 
United States, shall be removed from ofifice on impeachment for, and convic- 
tion of. treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

Sec. I. — The judicial power of the United States shall be Vested in one 
supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to 
time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior 
courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated 
times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished 
during their continuance in office. 

Sec. II. — I. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and 
equity arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, and 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases 
affecting ambassadors, and other public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of 
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction : to controversies to which the United 
States shall be a party . to controversies between two or more States ; 
between a State and citizens of another State ; between citizens of different 
.States ; between citizens of the same State, claiming lands under grants of 
different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign 
.States, citizens or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls 
and those in which a State shall be a party, the supreme court shall have 
original jurisdiction. In all other cases before mentioned, the supreme court 
shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, 
and under such regulations, as the Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be bj* 
jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have 
been committed ; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be 
at such a place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. 



2i6 UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

Sec. III. — I. Treason against the United States shall consist only in 
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid 
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testi- 
mony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confessions in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason ; 
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except 
during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Sec. I. — Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public 
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Con- 
gress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, 
and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Sec. II. — I. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, 
who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand 
of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up to 
be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, 
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, 
be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered upon claim 
of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Sec. III. — I. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this 
Union, but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of 
any other State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more 
States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislature of the States 
concerned, as well as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful 
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to 
the United States , and nothing in this constitution shall be so construed as 
to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Sec. IV.— The United States shall guarantee to every State of this Union 
a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against 
invasion, and, on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the 
legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, 
shall propose amendments to this constitution, or, on the application of the 
legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for pro- 
posing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and 
purposes, as part of this constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three- 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 217 

fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as 
the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress ; 
provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one 
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and 
fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article , and that no State, with- 
out its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

1. All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the 
adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the United States 
under this constitution as under the confederation. 

2. This constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be 
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, 
under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the 
land : and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the 
constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members 
of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both 
of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by an oath or 
afifirmation to support this constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be 
required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United 
States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the con\entions of nine States shall be sufficient for 
tlie establishment of this constitution between the States so ratifying the 
same. 

Done in convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present, the 
seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the United 
States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof, we have hereunto 
subscribed our names. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

President, and Deputy from Virginia. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. NEW YORK. 

John Langdon, Alexander Hamilton. 

Nicholas Oilman. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 
Nathaniel Gorham, NEW JERSEY. 

RuFus King. William Livingston, 

CONNECTICUT. David Brearley, 

Wm. Samuel Johnson, William Patterson, 

Roger Sherman. Jonathan Dayton. 



2l8 



UNITED STATES HISTORY. 



PENNSYLVANIA. 
Benjamin Franklin, 
Thomas Mifflin, 
Robert Morris, 
George Clymer, 
Thomas Fitzsimons, 
Jared Ingersoll, 
James Wilson, 
GouvERNEUR Morris. 

DELAWARE. 
George Read, 
Gunning Bedford, Jr., 
John Dickinson, 
Richard Bassett, 
Jacob Broom. 

MARYLAND. 
James M'Henrv, 
Dan'l of St. Tho. Jenifer, 
Daniel Carroll. 



VIRGINIA. 

John Blair, 
James Madison, Jr. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Blount, 
Rich. Dobbs Spaight, 
Hugh Williamson. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

John Rutledge, 
Charles C. Pinckney, 
Charles Pinckney, 
Pierce Butler. 

GEORGIA. 

William Few, 
Abraham Baldwin. 



Attest, WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

Art. I. — Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or abridging the freedom of 
speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and 
to petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

Art. II. — A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed. 

Art. III. — No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be 
prescribed by the law. 

Art. IV. — The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be 
violated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by 
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and 
the persons or things to be seized. 

Art. V. — No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jur\-, 
except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in 
actual service, in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be sub- 
ject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall 
be compelled, in any criminal case, to be witness against himself, nor be de- 
prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use without just compensation. 

Art. VI. — In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been 



CONSTITITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 219 

previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of 
the accusation ; to be confronted witli the witnesses against him ; to have 
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor ; and to have the 
assistance of counsel for his defense. 

Art. VII. — In suits of common law, where the value in controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved ; and 
no fact, tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the 
United States than according to the rules of the common law. 

Art. VIII. — Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Art. IX. — The enumeration in the constitution of certain rights shall not 
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

Art. X. — The powers not delegated to the United States by the consti- 
tution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respec- 
tively, or to the people. 

Art. XL — The judicial power of the United States shall not be con- 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or 
subjects of any foreign State. 

Art. XII. — I. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be 
an inhabitant of the same State with themselves ; they shall name in their 
ballots the persons voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as Vice-President : and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 
voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of 
the number of votes for each ; which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government of the United States, 
directed to the president of the Senate. The president of the Senate shall, in 
the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the 
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; the person having the 
greatest number of votes for President shall be President, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no person have 
such majority, then from the persons having the highest number, not exceed- 
ing three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Represen" 
tatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But, in choosing 
the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each 
State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member 
or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States 
shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not 
choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, 
before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall 
act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of 
the President. 

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President 
shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole 



220 UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

number of electors appointed ; and if no person have a majority, then from 
the two highest numbers on the hst the Senate shall choose the Vice-Presi- 
dent ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole 
number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary 
to a choice. 

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall 
be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 

Art. XIII. — I. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, 
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legis- 
lation. 

Art. XIV. — i. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and 
of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law 
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United 
States ; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the 
equal protection of the laws. 

2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several States accord- 
ing to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in 
each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any 
election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the 
United States, representatives in Congress, the executive or judicial officers 
of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of 
the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and 
citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, e.xcept for participation 
in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be 
reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear 
to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector 
of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the 
United States, or under any State, who having previously taken an oath as a 
member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of 
any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to 
support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrec- 
tion or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove 
such disability. 

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, 
including debts incurred for payments of pensions and bounties for services 
in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither 
the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation 
incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any 



EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 221 

claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave ; but all such debts, obliga- 
tions, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

5. Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the 
provisions of this article. 

Art. XV. — i. The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall 
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account 
of race, color or previous condition of servitude. 

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 



I 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a Proclamation was issued 
by the President of the United States, containing among other things the 
following, to wit : 

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or 
designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against 
the United States, shall be then, thenceforward and forever free, and the exec- 
utive government of the United States, including the military and naval 
authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, 
and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any 
efforts they may make for their actual freedom." 

"That the executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proc- 
lamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people 
thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States, and 
the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good 
faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen 
thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State 
shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testi- 
mony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof 
are not then in rebellion against the United States." 

Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, 
by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-chief of the Army and 
Navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the 
authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war 



2- UNITED STATES HISTORY. 

measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accord- 
ance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaim for the full period of one 
hundred days from the day the first above-mentioned, order and designate, as 
the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively are this 
day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: 

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, 
Plaquemines, Jefferson, St John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assump- 
tion, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including 
the city of New Orleans), MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, SOUTII 
Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight coun- 
ties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, 
Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including 
the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are, for the 
present, left precisely as if this Proclamation were not issued. 

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and 
declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts 
of States are, and henceforward shall be free ; and that the executive govern- 
ment of the United States, including the military and naval authorities there- 
of, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. 

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free, to abstain 
from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense, and I recommend to them 
that in all cases, when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. 

And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable con- 
dition will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison 
forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in 
said service. 

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted 
by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judg- 
ment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the 

[l. S.] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, 

and of the Independence of the United States the eig/ity-seventh. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President : 

William H. Seward, 

Secretary of State, 



1883] ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION (CONTINUED). 




IRISH NATIONAL LEAGUE -THE XVII. CONGRESS. 



\ CONVENTION of delegates representing the Irish 
^ Land League of the United States met in the city of 
Philadelphia the last week in April, and united with 
a similar convention of the Irish National League of 
jg America. This convention represented the sentiment of 

f|5»|;;t^ many thousand Irish-American citizens, who sympathize 
Jy^ with the peaceable agitation of the question of a just home 
rnmcnt for Ireland. The plan is thus fairly expressed by 
the president of the league : " The idea is to enlist the sympathy 
of the American and other people by an honest representation of 
facts. The statements will show how agriculture and the indus- 
tries have suffered by English legislation, and how they could 
thrive under self-government. Mr. Parnell will tell what successes 
have been achieved, what obstacles encountered, what hopes are 
entertained, what is expected of Irishmen here, and wliat the 
relations are between the two countries. Funds will be raised the same 
as by the Land League, and expended in relieving distress and keeping up 
the agitation, which funds will be sent to the Irish National League in Great 
Britain." 

General B. F. Butler, governor of Massachusetts, caused an official 
investigation to be made into the management of the State's almshouse at 
Tewksbury, and removed the board of trustees, appointing the board of 
public charities to act in their place pending the result of the investigation. 
The investigation still continues as we go to press. 

The final session of the forty-seventh congress closed at noon Mar-ch 4th. A 
bill for the revision of the tariff was passed as a compromise measure. There 
had been a distinct bill passed by the senate, another by the house of represen- 
tatives, and neither branch would concur with the other, so this compromise 
measure, embodying some of the features of both, was finally enacted. 
It passed the house by a vote of one hundred and fifty-two to one hun- 
dred and fifteen. It was satisfactory to no one, and presented very 
many inconsistencies in itself. The internal duties were entirely removed 
from bank checks and deposits, and also from sundry articles of domestic 
manufactures, while the tax on tobacco and cigars was reduced. The total 
reduction from the tariff and the internal revenue by the operations of this 
law is estimated at sixty-five to seventy million dollars annually. A law 
increasing'the pensions of soldiers disabled in the civil war of 1861-65 was also 
enacted, also a law reducing the rate of domestic postage from three cents to 
two. A " civil service " bill was passed, the fast mail service was retained, and 



224 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [1883 

a law prohibiting the importation of adulterated teas. To the great credit 
of this congress they refused to pass another " river and harbor bill " and other 
measures of questionable public policy ; but many of the proper recommenda- 
tions of the president were entirely neglected. Honorable David Davis, of 
Illinois, who had been vice-president pro iciii. since the promotion of Mr. 
Arthur, resigned that office, and Honorable George F. Edmonds, of Vermont, 
was elected in his stead March 3d. 

An envoy from the island of Madagascar was entertained as the guests of 
the government, and a commercial treaty of mutual advantage to the two 
governments was signed at Washington before the adjournment of congress. 
The marquis of Lome, governor-general of Canada, was also a public guest 
at the capital for a few days. Commodore R. W. Shufeldt, U.S.N., was 
sent by the government in 1878 with the Ticondcroga. to negotiate a 
commercial treaty with Corea, an Asiatic kingdom, under tribute to China, 
" the hermit nation," but all advances were repelled by that government in 
1880, upon which he returned to the United States ; but a subsequent visit of 
Commodore Shufeldt resulted in a treaty with that power May 22d, 1 882. This 
treaty, which has reference to aid to shipwrecked American sailors in Corea, 
privileges in the country, the prohibition of the opium trade, and the purchase 
of munitions of war, the appointment of consuls, and other mutual relations, 
was ratified by the senate in February, 1883. Mr. Gustavus Goward, secretary 
of legation at Japan, was dispatched to Corea to obtain an exchange of rati- 
fication. The following appointments were confirmed by the senate: John 
W. Foster, minister to Spain ; Dorman B. Eaton, of New York, John M. 
Gregory, of Illinois, and L. D. Thorman, of Ohio, to be civil service commis- 
sioners. The public indebtedness was reduced about eight millions of dollars 
in February, and somewhat more in March. In the State of Georgia, John S. 
Boynton, president of the senate, was duly qualified as governor in the place 
of Alexander H. Stephens, deceased. 

The United States steamer Aslmclot was lost in the China Sea, February 
2ist, and eleven of the crew were drowned by the disaster. Upon the same 
date the steamer Mora Castle was burned at Charleston, South Carolina. 

The winter and spring of 1882-83 will be long remembered for the exten- 
sive and disastrous floods upon the Mississippi River and its numerous trib- 
utaries, by which a vast number of citizens were rendered destitute. The 
commercial cities of the Union responded to the cry for aid most liberally, 
and much money was sent to the places where there had been the greatest 
suffering. 

The second trial of the star route conspirators began in December, 1882, 
and continued for more than five months. One of the defendants in the suit, 
Mr. Rirdell, gave testimony for the government which was most damaging to 
the defense. The principal defendants were put upon the witness stand and 
subjected to a thorough and critical cross-examination by the government. 
Able and exhaustive arguments were made by counsel, and the trial still 
continues as this volume is being printed. 



INDEX 



ADAMS. 

Adams, John, vice-president, 89, 91 ; presi- 
dent, 92 : death of, 104. 

Adams, John Quincy, president, 104. 

Adams, Samuel, 57. 

Amendments to Constitution, I.-XIL, 218; 
XIV. adopted, 172 ; text of, 230 ; XV. adopt- 
ed, 174; text of, 221 ; XVI. proposed, 1S3. 

Agitation upon slavery, 1 14. 

Alabama claims, 175; Alabama admitted. loi. 

Ale.Kis, Grand duke of Russia, visit of, 176. 

Alien and sedition laws, 92. 

Algerian pirates, 92, 94, 100. 

Allen, Ethan, at Ticonderoga, 60. 

Andre, Major, death of, 81. 

Arkansas admitted, 107. 

Army and na\-y in 1861, 136. 

Arnold, Benedict, commissioned, 60; the first 
and only traitor, 80. 

Arthur, Chester A., vice-president, 182; pres- 
ident, 185. 

Ashuelot, the, lost in the China Sea, 354. 

Bainbridge, Captain, 94. 

Bank, United States, chartered, loi ; conflict 
over, 105 ; deposits removed, 107. 

Belknap, secretary of war, impeached, 178. 

Black a'arrior affair, 127. 

Boston, siege of, 62. 

Braddock. General, death of, 43. 

Breckenbridge. John C, on slavery, 135. 

Brown, John, raid of, 133. 

Buchanan. James, president, 129, 131 ; his cab- 
inet, 135. 

Bunker Hill, battle of, 61. 

Burgoyne's surrender, 72. 

Burr, Aaron, vice-president, 93 ; conspiracy of, 

Butler, General B. F., governor of Massa- 
chusetts, 253. 

Cabot, John and Sebastian, 26. 

California, gold discovered, 113; admitted, 122. 

Calhoun, John C, vice-president, 104. 

Campaigns of, 1777-8, 80; of 1779-80, 76. 

Canada surrendered to the English, 44. 

Census, the second, 93. 

Centennial exhibition, 179, 191. 

Central America, invasion of Walker, 127. 

Centttry, extract from the, 182. 

Chinese bill, 181. 

China, treaty with, 174, 183. 

Civil rights conferred upon freedmen, 174. 



CIVIL WAR. 

Civil Service Bill passed, 253. 

Civil war of 1S61-5, first indications of, 133; 
condition of army and na\-y at outbreak of, 
135 ; Fort Sumpter evacuated, 138 ; uprising 
in the North and South, opinions in both sec- 
tions, 139; Alexandria, Manassas Junction, 
Bull Run, Congress votes men and supplies, 
141 ; spirit in the North, George B. McClellan 
in command. Confederate capital removed to 
Richmond, Robert E. Lee in command of 
Confederates, his ability, 141; "Stonewall" 
Jackson, his character. Sixth Massachusetts, 
the operations of 1861, Maryland saved to 
the Union, 143 ; Trent affair, 143 ; Hampton 
Roads, Port Royal, operations in Kentucky 
and Arkansas, Fort Donaldson, General 
Grant, 144 ; the Merriuiac destroys the Con- 
gress and the Cumberland, the Monitor, 
Winchester, Shenandoah Valley, 145 ; " On 
to Richmond," the seven days' fight, in the 
West, near Corinth, New Orleans, General 
Butler, Fort Pillow, Newberne, Fort Mason, 
147 ; Fort Pulaski, operations before Rich- 
mond, Washington in danger. Cedar Moun- 
tain, Rappahannock, 14S ; Kearney and Ste- 
vens killed, South Mountain, Harper's Fer- 
ry, Antietam, 149 ; McClellan relieved. Burn- 
side in command, Fredericksburg, Hooker 
relieves Burnside, operations in the West, 
150; in Tennessee, on the Mississippi. Banks 
at New Orleans, Murfreesboro, emancipation, 
153; depredations of the Alabama, opera- 
tions of 1863, on the Mississippi, 153, 154; 
Red River. 154, 155 ; on the Potomac, Chan- 
cellorsville, Winchester, George C. Meade in 
command. 156; Battle of Gettysburg, 
157, 158. 159; draft and riots, after Gettys- 
burg, 159; war in Tennessee, Lookout 
Mountain, Charleston Harbor, beyond the 
Mississippi, 160 ; condition of finances north 
and south, LI. S. Grant commander-in-chief. 
Generals Sherman and Meade, Fort Pillow, 
General Banks up the Red River, 161 ; a 
series of reverses, 162 ; prepared to advance, 
in the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, death of 
Sedgwick, 163; Butler at Petersburg and 
Bermuda Hundred, North Anna River, Cold 
Harbor, Petersburg, 164, 165 ; up the Shen- 
andoah, Chambersburg, Winchester, Fisher's 
Hill, Early's flight, 165; Sherman at Chatta- 
nooga, Altoona Pass, Atlanta, 166 ; march 
to the sea. Savannah occupied, 167; opera- 



226 



INDEX. 



CLINTON. 

tions in North Carolina and Florida, Confed- 
erate privateers, 167 ; privateers destroyed, 
Mobile invested, political nominations, 168; 
Columbia captured, Fayetteville, Benton- 
ville, Goldsboro', Wilmington, Mobile taken, 
169; closing struggles around Petersburg 
and Richmond, Lee surrenders, President 
Lincoln in Richmond, 170; Mr. Lincoln 
assassinated, Andrew Johnson president, 
capture of Jefferson Davis, Grant's farewell 
to the army, grand review, 171. 

Clinton, General, 61, 63, 64. 

Clinton. George, vice-president, 94, 95. 

Colorado admitted, 178. 

Colonies, settlement of, 28 ; government of, 41 ; 
treatment of, by English, 46; French aid to, 68. 

Columbus, Christopher, story of, 24. 

Concord, battle of, 51. 

Congress, first general, 49; second continental, 
60; first United States, 89; return of mem- 
bers from Southern States, 1 74 ; forty- 
seventh, first session, 186; forty-seventh, 
final session opened, 188; closed, 253. 

Conklin, Senator, resigns, 183. 

Connecticut settled, 36 ; charter oak, 44, 

Constitution formed, 86 ; ratified, 88 ; text of, 
209; signers of, 217 ; amendments to, 218. 

Continental currency, 76. 

Cooper, Peter, death of, 204. 

Corea, treaty with. 254. 

Cornwallis in South Carolina, 79 ; surrenders, 

83. 
" Cotton exposition," 182. 
Cowpens, battle of, 82. 
Crown Point, capture of, by Col. Allen, 59. 

Danbury, Conn., raid on, 70. 

Davis, David, elected vice-president pro tein., 

186; resigned, 253. 
Davis, Jefferson, 136. 
Delaware settled, 36. 
Democratic party formed, 92; divided, 133; 

Charleston convention of the, 134. 
De Soto, Ferdinand, 27. 
Douglas, Stephen, 126,134. 
Dred Scott decision, 131. 

Edmunds, Georoe F., vice-president, 254. 

Election of 1882, 187, 188. 

Electoral commission of 1876, iSo. 

Eliott, John, the Indian apostle. 32. 

Emancipation proclamation, history of, 152; 
text of, 221. 

Embargo bills, 95. 

England, first war with, troops sent, 47 ; re- 
peal of tax laws, 73 ; non-intercourse with, 
95; second war with, 97; Hull defeated, 
army of North-west surrendered, victories at 
sea, in Canada, on Lake Erie, 98 ; on Lake 
Champlain. 99. 

English depredations on the coast, 98 ; destruc- 
tion of Washington, treaty of peace, battle 
of New Orleans, 99 ; close of war, 100. 



INDEPENDENCE. 

Eutaw Springs, battle of, 83. 
Explorations by government, 125. 

Feni.\ns in Canada. 175. 

Fillmore. Millard. President. 123. 

Financial exhibit of 18S2, 1S8, 189. 

Fishery question, 124. 

Florida, surrendered to England, 44 ; admitted, 

Indian war in, 106. 
Fort Sumpter held by Major Anderson, 137. 
France, first treaty with, 73 ; difficulty with, 

92 ; pays indemnity, 106. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 43. 55, 86. 
Fredericksburg, battle of, 1 50. 
Fremont, John C, in California, 1 10 ; court 

martial of, in. 
French in America, 42 ; French and English 

wars, 42, 43. 
French in Mexico, 173. 
Fulton, Robert, and first steamboat, 94. 

Garfield, James A., president, 183 ; assassin- 
ated, I S3; sympathy for, death of, 184; queen 
of England's letter to Mrs. Garfield, 184; na- 
tional sorrow. 185; burial of the president. 
185; trial and execution of Guiteau, 1S6; 
""The Martyred Hero," a poem, 193. 

Genet, the French minister, 91. 

Georgia settled, 36. 

Gettysburg, battle of, 157. 

" Golden Circle." 127. 

Gold discovered in California. 113. 

Grant, the English general, 67. 

Grant, Ulysses S., in Mexico 120; m the west, 
144; commander-in-chief, 161; farewell to 
the army, 171 ; secretary of war, 173; presi- 
dent, 174; second term, 177; retires to 
private life, 187. 

Great Britain, reciprocity treaty with, 127. 

Greenback party formed, 181. 

Guilford, Conn., raid on, 70. 

Habeas Corpus restored, 173. 

Hamilton, Alexander, on the constitution, 87 ; 
financial ability, 89 ; death of, 94. 

Hancock, John, 54. 74. 

Harrison, William H., at Tippecanoe, 96 ; presi- 
dent and death of, 108. 

Harvard College founded. 31. 

Hayes, Rutherford B.. president, 181, 

Hayti, annexation scheme. 175. 

Henry, Patrick, the orator. 56. 

Hero Dead, Our, a poem, 202. 

History, an essay by Lord Macaulay, 9. 

, lessons from our, an oration, 194. 

Homestead act passed, 126. 

Illinois admitted. loi. 

Immigration to the United States, 192. 

Independence, declaration of, adopted. 65 ; text 
of. 205 ; signers to. 208 ; war for, early years, 
66; war in 1777-8, 70; in 1779-80, 76;'clos- 
ing years, 81 ; fiftieth anniversary of, 104. 



INDEX. 



227 



INDIANS. 

Indians, colonist war witli, 32 ; in Wyoming 
Valley, 74; subdued, 77; hostilities of. 1790. 
90; revolt of, 181 1, 96; war of, 1832, 105 ; in 
Oregon, 129; troubles of 1875. Sioux, Sit- 
ting Bull. Nez Perce, Chief Joseph, 177; 
trouble with Utes, 182. 

Indiana admitted, 100. 

Inter-Oceanic canal, 182. 

Inventions since the civil war, 193. 

Iowa admitted, loS. 

Irish National League, 253. 

Jackson, Andrew, at New Orleans, 99 ; presi- 
dent, 105 ; custom house circular, 106. 

Jamestown, settlement of, 28. 

Japan, treaty with. 124. 

"Jtanncttc " expedition and loss of, 189. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 90; vice-president, 91; 
president, 93 ; re-elected, 94 ; death of, 104. 

Jersey City, victory of Gen. Lee at, 77. 

Jewell, Marshal, death of, 203. 

Johnson, Andrew, president, 172; conflict with 
congress and impeachment, 173. 

Kansas, the struggle in, 130. 
Kearney, General, in California, 1 10. 
Kentucky admitted, 90. 
King Philip's War. 32. 
Kossuth, Louis, in America, 124. 

La Fayette, Marquis, arrival in America, 57 ; 
last visit to the country, loi ; sketch of, 102. 

Lecorapton constitution formed, 131; rejected, 
132- 

Le.xington, battle of, 50. 

Lincoln, Abraham, in congress, 121; nomi- 
nated for president, 135; on the slavery 
question, 135; inaugurated, 138; in Rich- 
mond, 170; assassinated, 171. 

Louisiana purchased, 93. 

Macdonough, Commodore, on Lake Cham- 
plain, 99. 

Madison, James, president, 96. 

Maine admitted to the Union, loi. 

Maryland settled, 36. 

Massachusetts settled, 30. 

Massasoit, the friend of the colonists, 31. 

Mexico, war with, 109; division of opinion 
upon, 120; actors in, 120, 121 ; treaty with, 
112, 125; boundary settled, 125 ; negotia- 
tions for a new treaty, 189. 

Michigan admitted, 107. 

Minnesota organized, 124. 

.Mississippi admitted, loi. 

River, flood on the, 254. 

Missouri admitted, loi ; compromise over, loi ; 
compromise repealed, 130. 

Monroe, James, president, 10 1. 

Montcalm, death of, 43. 

Mormonism established in Utah, 122; rebell- 
ion of Mormons, 132; question in congress, 
176. 

17 



SCHUYLER. 

Morgan. E. D. death of, 203. 
Mora Castle, the, burned in Charleston Har- 
bor, 254. 

Nations, our position among the, an oration, 

194. 
Navy created, 92. 
Nebraska admitted, 173. 
Negro exodus from the South, iSi. 
New England, United Colonies of, 31. 
New Hampshire, settled, 34. 
New Jersey settled, 36. 
New York settled, taken by the English, 34 ; 

senatorial excitement in, 183. 
North Carolina settled. 36. 

Oglethorpe, George, 37. 
Ohio admitted. 93. 
Oregon admitted, 125. 
Ostend circular, 127. 

Pacific coast, first exploration to, 94; railroad 
bill, 126; railroad completed, 126. 

Paine, Thomas, 65, 87. 

Panic, commercial, of 1833, 106. 

Party spirit first manifested, 90. 

Pebble. Commodore, 94. 

Peace, convention of, 136; treaty of. with 
England, 84. 

Penn, William, settlement of, 35 ; centennial 
anniversary of landing of, 189. 

Pensions, for revolutionary soldiers, loi ; sol- 
diers of civil war, 1 76. 

Pennsylvania troops and General Wayne, 81. 

Perry, Commodore, on Lake Erie, 98. 

Philadelphia taken by British, 71 ; evacuated, 

74- 
Pierce, Franklin, president, 125. 
Pilgrim Fathers sail to America, 29 ; landing of, 

30- 
Plot for disunion, 136. 
Pocahontas and Powhatan, 28. 
Political campaign of 1882, 172. 
' Polk, James K., president, 109. 
President, the U. S. man of war, and Little Belt. 

96- 
Progress and development since the civn war, 

190. 
Provisional governors for Southern States, 172. 

Quakers, persecution of, 39 ; excuse for, 40. 

Quebec taken, 43. 

Queen of England, letter from the, 184. 

Reconstruction and progress, 172. 
completed, 174. 



Revenues, scheme of Hamilton, 89. 
Rhode Island settled, 36; adopts the constitu- 
tion, 90. 

Sandwich Islands, offer of annexation, 127. 
I Santa Anna, 1 10. 
Schuyler, General, victory of, 72. 



228 



INDEX. 



SECESSION. 

Secession of Southern States, 136. 
Scott, General Wintield, Cherokees, 105 ; Sem- 
inole war, 106; Mexico, 1 1 1 ; in Washington 

Senate, special session of 1881, 1S5. 

Shufeldt, Commodore R. W., 254. 

Slavery and its agitation, slaves first introduc- 
ed, 114; in all the colonies, 115 ; slave trade, 
115; number of slaves at time of revolution, 
Washington, Hamilton, John Adams, Patrick 
Henry, Franklin, Madison, Monroe, Jefferson, 
views on, 116; recognized in constitution, 
116; effect of Whitney's cotton-gin, defense 
of, laws concerning, 117; purchase of Lou- 
isiana, 118 ; John C. Calhoun, the champion 
of, 117, 119; William Lloyd Garrison and 
his paper, 119; Te.xas a slave State, 120; 
fugitive slave law, 123; Kansas and Ne- 
braska bill, 126; emancipation proclamation, 
152 ; slavery abolished in all the States, 172. 

Smith, John, and his colony, 28. 

South Carolina, settled, 36. 

Southern commercial convention, 132. 

South ready for the war, 135, 136. 

Spain, treaty with, 91. 

Specie payment suspended in 1837, 107 ; sus- 
pended in 1S61, 141 ; resumed, 181. 

Stamp act of England, 47. 

Stanton, E. M., secretary of war, "sticks," 173. 

Star route conspirators, first trial of, 187; 
second trial of, 254. 

Stephens, Alexander H., death of, 136. 

Tariff, first proposed, 89; opposition to, 106; 

the northern and southern side of, 119; the 

law of, 1883, 253. 
Taylor, Zachary, in Mexico, 109; president, 

122. 
Tea, destruction of, in Boston Harbor, 48. 
Telegraph invented, 123. 
Tewksbury almshouse, investigation of, 253. 
Texas admitted, 108, 109, 120. 



YANCEY. 

Ticonderoga taken by Col. Allen, 59. 

, the. sent to Corea, 254. 

Tobacco discovered, 29 ; tax on, reduced, 203. 

Trade of the United States, 191. 

Tyler, John, president, 108. 

Tyron, English general in Connecticut, 76, 77. 

Ut,4H settled by Mormons, 122 ; refused ad- 
mission as a State, 132 ; refused admission 
again, 177. 

United States recognized as a nation, 84. 

bank chartered, loi ; opposed by Jack- 
son, 105; deposits withdrawn from, 107; 
charter vetoed by Mr. Tyler, 108. 

Valley Forge, Washington at, 73. 

Van Buren, Martin, president, 107. 

Vera Cruz captured, 1 1 1. 

Vermont admitted, 90. 

Virginia settled, 28. 

" Virgimus affair" with Cuba, 175. 

War with England averted, 91. 

Washington, George, first campaign, 42 ; un- 
der General Braddock, 43; sketch of, 53; 
commander-in-chief, 62 ; at Boston, 63 ; re- 
treat to Philadelphia, 67 ; crosses the Delaware, 
68 ; in New Jersey, 70 ; at Valley Forge, 73 ; 
plans for 1779, 76; refuses to be made king, 
84; popular estimation of, 85; as president, 
89 ; death of, 92 ; Napoleon's tribute to, 93. 

Washington city burned by British, 99. 

Washington territory organized, 125. 

Weather signal service, 175. 

Webster, Daniel, 122. 

Whiskey insurrection, 91. 

Williams, Roger, his character, 39. 

Wisconsin admitted, 113. 

Witchcraft in New England, 38. 

Wyoming massacre, 74. 

Yancey, William L., on civil war, 135. 




SOPHOCLES. 



GAY'S SERIES OF STANDARD HISTORIES. 

FIRST SERIES. 

THREE GREAT MODERN NATIONS. 

FROM THE EARLIEST PERIODS TO 1884. 



THE HISTORIES OF 



GREECE AND ROME, 



AS AN 



Introduction to Modern Histoy, 



COMPRISING 



A BRIEF EXPLAXATIOy OF CLASSIC MYTHOLOGY AND A SUMMARY OF CLASSIC 
HISTORY, STORIES FROM CLASSIC LANDS, WONDERFUL MEN AND EVENTS. 

By JOSEPH H. BEALE, A.M. 



NEW HAVEN, CONN.: 

WILLIAM GAY AND COMPANY, 

SUCCESSORS TO GAY BROTHERS. 




E. B, SHELDON & CO., 

Compositors and Electrotypers, 
New Haven, Conn. 



.^ 



WILLIAM GAY & CO., 
Printers and Binders, 
New Haven\ Conn/ 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 



THE HISTORY OF GREECE. 

I. Olympus and its Inhabitants 7 

Day and Night •<' 

Men and Women H 

II. The Age of the Heroes. — The Exploits of Perseus 1 7 

Hercules and his Labors '9 

Jason and the Golden Fleece 22 

III. Stories from Classic Lands.— The People of Greece 27 

Lycurgus and his Laws 29 

Solon, the Lawgiver of Athens 3' 

IV. The Battle of Marathon 33 

V. The Expedition of Xer.xes 3^ 

VI. The Battle of Platjea.— The Age of Pericles 39 

VII. The Decline of Greece 41 

VIII. Glances at Modern Greece 43 



THE HISTORY OF ROME. 

L Wonderful Men and Events. — The Land of Italy 47 

The Wanderings of ^Eneas 49 

The Building of Rome S- 

The Establishment of Religion 54 

II. The Expulsion of the Tarquins S^ 

The End of the Tarquin Family 5^ 

III. The Fable of Menenius Agrippa 59 

IV. Coriolanus and Cmcinnatus 63 

V. The Decemvirs 65 

The Samnite Wars 66 

VI. The Punic Wars. — Conquest of Cisalpine Gaul 7° 

VII. Conquest in the East. — The Gracchi 73 

VIII. Caius Marius and Cornelius Sulla 75 

IX. Cnasus Pompeius. — Julius Casar 79 

The Rivalry of Pompeius and Caesar 8 ' 

Julius Caesar '. 82 

X. The Triumvirate. — The Empire 84 

XI. The Emperors after Augustus 88 

The Spread of Christianity 9° 

XII. Modern Rome and the Church 9+ 



INTBODDCm TO THE HISTORY OF GMCE Al 101. 




The intelligent study of modern history cannot be perused without some 
knowledge of the salient points in the history of Greece and Rome. The 
names and deeds of the men who have made those countries famous have 
become so interwoven in the thought of each succeeding age that we find oft 
recurring reference to them in the history of almost every country of modern 
times. The effect of the distinct types of civilization which these nations 
exemplified is seen in the formation, development and establishment of every 
government in Europe. 

The discipline of the Roman armies, the foundation of Roman law, and 
the constitution of the Roman State have been models after which each of 
"the four great modern nations" have copied. The exalted beauty of 
Grecian art, the perfection of Grecian culture and the purity of Grecian litera- 
ture have stimulated the minds and inspired the genius of the generations 
which have lived and acted their parts upon the stage of history since the 
ages of Phidias, Demosthenes and Aristotle. The attempt to crowd all this 
within the narrow limits assigned in this work is a formidable one, and we are 
encouraged to make such an attempt only from the belief that it will be 
appreciated by a majority of our readers, as an aid to the intelligent under- 
standing of the very numerous allusions, references and ilustrations in the 
preceding pages drawn from classic history. 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

There is a peculiar freshness and naturalness in the character and the 
deeds of the men who lived in the childhood of history which gives a zest 
and fascination to the record which cannot fail to appeal to the minds of 
all. The very men and women themselves appear to be living verities and 
perform their parts in our immediate presence. We can almost hear them 
speak and see them breathe, so life-like are the scenes which they represent. 
This, then, is the reason which has induced us to find a place in this volume for 
the History of Greece and Rome. These histories come first in the order of time 
and form a connecting link, as it were, between the sacred history, with which 
every well read person should be familiar, and the annals of those nations 
■which we find in existence at the present time. 

Before we have begun the history proper we have introduced a few sec- 
tions drawn from the beautiful and complicated system of mythology which 
these nations accepted as true and with which the Christianity of the early 
Church had to contend for supremacy in the old Roman empire. This had 
become so far interwoven with their very existence as nations that many 
events and ceremonies connected with them cannot be understood without 
some knowledge of the myths upon which they rested. Their system of law 
and government, their social life, and even their relations with tribes, nations 
and empires were all more or less modified by these current beliefs drawn from 
the legends and tales of their gods and demi-gods. More than this, their 
mythology has left its traces upon every department of literature and art in 
all the modern nations of Europe. For this reason we believe that our read- 
ers will appreciate our effort to give, in a brief compass, the principal points 
of value in the history of these classic lands. The following pages are based 
upon Gibbon's Rome and the popular histories of Charlotte M. Yonge. 





THE nations of Greece and Rome which 
rose to such a wonderful height of power 
and civilization under the leadership of their 
lawgivers, generals, statesmen and philos- 
ophers had no true revelation of the great 
God, but their wisest men were left to guess 
out the best idea they could by the light of 
reason and nature. They had many strange 
stories and legends, part of which arose 
from disconnected old beliefs brought from 
the east, and a part from the method of speaking of the different operations 
of nature — the sky, sun, moon and stars, clouds, wind, rivers and seas — as if 
they were performed by real beings. They also spoke of good and bad 
actions as if they were persons rather than qualities. So these stories came 
to be the basis of their belief, and the system, as a whole, was regarded 
as their national religion. Beautiful poems were written by their great poets 
and their artists executed the most perfect statues of the gods and god- 
desses. So it has come to pass that no one can understand art or literature 
without a knowledge of this system of mythology. 



8 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

There is upon the frontiers of Thessaly and Macedonia a lofty mountain 
called Olympus. Its highest peak is nine thousand seven hundred and fifty-four 
feet above the level of the sea ; its top is covered with snow for about nine 
months in the year. It was regarded by the ancient Greeks as the principal 
abode of the gods, and they believed that the palace of the chief god was 
built upon its broad summit. It was said in one legend that at first Olympus 
was connected with Ossa, but by an earthquake a passage was formed through 
the narrow vale of Tempe to the sea. Those who lived at a distance from 
this mountain thought that it rose into the sky far above the clouds, and that 
the gods and goddesses lived upon its top. But those who lived near by and 
knew that this was not the case believed that these celestial beings dwelt in 
the sky above the mountain. The Greeks held that there were twehe 
greater gods and goddesses who dwelt in Olympus. 

The chief of these gods, who was styled the father of gods and the king 
of men, was called by the Greeks, Zeus, and by the Romans, Jupiter. 
Because all things are born of Time, so the sky god, or Jupiter, was said to 
have been born of Kro'^os — Time — or, as the Latins call him, Saturn. As Time 
consumes all things, Saturn is said to have devoured his own children as fast 
as they were born. Jupiter w4s preserved from his father, Saturn, by a 
cunning device of his mother, Rhea. She gave her husband a stone wrapped 
in swaddling clothes, and while Saturn was biting this hard morsel Jupiter 
was saved. And afterward two other sons were born, Neptune, the god of 
the sea, and Pluto, the god of the world of spirits. These were saved from 
the power of Saturn, because Time can have no impression upon the sea or 
the realm of the dead. The ancients thought that the reign of Saturn was 
the golden age of the world. They said that there had been four ages, 
the golden age, the silver age, the brazen age, and the iron age. They 
believed that the people were growing worse in each succeeding age. After 
his reign on earth, Saturn was obliged to go into retirement with only his star, 
the planet called by his name, left to him. Jupiter, the sky god, was reigning 
on Olympus over the twelve greater gods and goddesses while the iron age 
was in progress among mortals below. His star was much larger and brighter 
than that of Saturn. The Greeks describe him as a majestic man, in full 
strength, with thick hair and beard, holding the bolts of lightning in his right 
hand. 

Vulcan was the god of fire, and the son of Jupiter, who forged his 
thunderbolts. His smithies were in the volcanoes, so called from his 
name. The workmen were the Cyclops, or Round Eyes, the giants 
with one eye in the center of the forehead. A horrible race of monsters 
called Titans, the worst of whom was Briareus, who had a hundred 
arms and hands, had attempted to scale the heights of heaven by piling 
mountains on top of each other, and then hurl Jupiter from his throne. 
Jupiter, when he was beset the hardest by them, felt a severe pain in his head 
and ordered Vulcan to strike it a blow with his hammer ; instantly Minerva, 



GAY'S CHRONOL 

SHOWING A CONNECTED HISTORY OF THE WORLD.I 



2800-1707 B.C. 

CHINA. 

8800— The Hla Dynasty founded ; First Historical 

CHALDEA, ASSYRIA, AND 

8234— First authentic date ; beginning of Chaldean 

astronomy. 
1850— Assyria conquered. 



EGYPT. 

2717— ThurUe Dynasty founded. 
2122— Hieroglpyhics invented. 
2120— Pyramids built. 
1822— Egyptian alphabet invented. 
1707— JOSEPH and family in Egypt. 
1707— 1491— Egyptian bondage. 

THE HEBREWS. 

1996— Birth of ABRAHAM. 
1729— JOSEPH sold. 



SYRIA. 



PHCENICIA. 

2800— Pheenicla said to be peopled by the children 

of ANAK. 



PERSIAN EMPIRE. 

Persian history enveloped in fable until the 
lime of CYRUS the Great. 



GREECE. 

1856— Kingdom of Argos founded. 



CHART I. 



FROM 2800-501 B.C. 



1706-901. 



Period. 



BABYLONIA. 

1500— Arabians conquer Chatdea ; a new dynasty 

established. 
1250— Assyria absorbs Chaldea, or Early Babylonia. 
1150-BabyIon (NEBUCHADNEZZAR I.) invades 

-Assyria. 



1491— Departure of the Hebrews. 



1671-MOSES bom. 

1491— Exodus from Egypt. 

1461— The nation led into Canaan by JOSHUA. 

1413— To 1136 B.C. the Hebrews undergo six (>eriods 

of bondage. 
1016— Beath of DAVID. 
1012— SOLOMON begins the Temple. 

976-Death of SOLOMON; Ten Tribes revolt; 
kingdom of Israel established. 

971— The Egyptians pillage Jerusalem. 

901— Syrians besiege Samaria. 



1040— King DAVID subdues the Syrians. 
975— Independence of Syria recovered at death 

of SOLOMON. 
901— Syrians defeated in war with the Israelites, 



1497— AGENOR first historical king of Phoenicia. 
1060— Tyre the leading city. 



1493-CADMUS founds Thebes. 
1453— Olympic games introduced. 
1313— Kingdom of Mycenae founded. 
1 193— Trojan War. 



ROME. 



: 



Designed for Gay's Standard Histories, by ■WTLLIAM GAT 



>GICAL CHARTS, 

.NCIENT AND MODERN, FROM 2800 B.C. TO 1884 A.D. 



900—604. 



820— Babylon becomes subject to Assyria. 
750~Babylon regains independence. 
709— Babylon conquered by SARGONof Assyria. 
645— Indopeudenec of Babylon ; SARDANAPA- 

LUS burns tiimsclf and palace. 



T81— Saite Dynasty founded. 
686— Kgypt divided between twelve kings. 
610— One hundred and twenty thousand men lost 
attempt to cut Suez Canal. 



741— Jerasalem besieged. 

T21— Xen Tribes carried into captivity ; their kingdom 

destroyed. 
710 — Judaea invaded by Assyrians ; one hundred and 

eighty-five thousand Assyrians slain in the 

night by the Destroying Angel. 



603—501. 




598— NEBUCHADNEZZAR conquers the Jews and 
takes away King JEHOIAKIM. 

587— Jerusalem surrenders. 

539— BELSHAZZAR king of Babylon. 

638— CYRUS turns the course of the Euphrates and en- 
ters Babylon, which becomes subject to Persia. ^ 

535— Egypt subject to CYRUS the Great. 



I 892— Syrians besiege Samaria. 
1 740— Syria subject to Assyria. 

604— NEBUCHADNEZZAR subdues Syria. 



870— Tbe Assyrians conquer Phoenicia, 
850— Cartbage founded. 
723— Invasion by Assyrians. 



I 642— CYAXARES founds Kainite Dynasty. 
640— Scytbians subjugate the country. 



884-liCgl8latlon of LYCURGUS at Sparta. 
776— Earitest authentic date in Greek history; the 

Olympiads commence. 
743 — Sparta victorious in Messenian wars. 
683— CREON' becomes first archon of Athens. 
621— Braeonlan laws. 

753-Rome founded by ROMULUS (legendary). 
716-As8asslnaUon of ROMULUS. 
715-NUMA POMPILIUSking. 

61 6— Tbe Capital begun in honor of Jupiter, Juno and 
Minerva. 



696— Syria under Persia for nearly three centuries 



WSi 



587— Invasion by Babylonians. 

536— The country subdued by CYRUS the Great. 



559— CYRUS founds a mighty empire. 
543— Asia Minor annexed. 
538— Babylon conquered by CYRUS. 
525— Egypt conquered byCAMBVSES. 
508— DARIUS subdues Macedon and Thraje:.: 

- , ^ ;.. . ^ ^X^J^■'^ 

590— The Seven Wise Men of Greece flourish. 
660— PISISTRATUS tyrant of Athens. 



678— First coinage. 

666— First census, eighty-four thousand seven hundred 

inhabitants. 
634— SERVIUS assassinated by his daughter TULLIA ; 

TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS reigns. 
610— Kapeof LUCRETIA ; the Tarquins banished; 

republic founded ; L. JUNIUS BRUTUS and 

L. TARQUINIUS COLLATINUS consuls. 
501— TITUS LAERTIUS dictator. 



;0., 256 Chapel St., New Haven, Conn. COPTEIGHT 1883. 



OLYMPUS AND ITS INHABITANTS. 9 

the goddess of wisdom, leaped forth, fully armed, from the brain of 
Jupiter. 

She had shining, piercing eyes, and was clad in a full suit of armor. By 
the wisdom of her counsels she enabled her father to cast down the Titans 
and cover them with their own mountains, /Etna, Ossa and Pelion, to keep 
them down. Whenever there was an earthquake the people thought that the 
giants were struggling to get free. There is in this fable an indication of 
some remembrance connected with the tower of Babel. 

The sister and wife of Jupiter was Juno, the white-armed, ox-eyed queen 
of heaven and earth. Her bird was the peacock. This is the way the 
peacock came to have the eyes in his tail. There was a shepherd named 
Argus who had a hundred eyes. Juno once engaged him to watch a 
beautiful cow called lo, who was in truth a lady in this disguise of whom she 
was jealous because Jupiter loved her. Argus performed his task until 
Mercury, the messenger of the gods, at the instigation of Jupiter, came and 
lured the shepherd to sleep with soothing music, and thus gave lo a chance 
to escape from her watcher. Juno was so angry that she took the hundred 
eyes away from Argus and gave them to her peacock. Mercury, the 
messenger of the gods, is said to have been born early in the morning in a 
cave. After he had slept awhile he came forth, and finding the shell of a 
tortoise with some of the entrails stretched across it, he began to play 
thereon, and this was the first lyre. He was as swift as the morning wind, 
and for this reason was made the messenger of Jupiter. He was pictured as 
having wings on his cap and sandals. He was regarded not only as the god 
of music, but also of thieves and liars. This would seem to be natural if we 
regard Mercury as the morning wind. For the wind not only makes music, 
but blows things away and hides them from sight. So we see as long as 
these myths are parables they are beautiful and often grand, but when the 
■gods become to be regarded as men they are absurd and often wicked. 
Mercury also had his star, but a very small one, and so near the sun that it 
can only be seen just after sunset or before sunrise. There was another 
messenger for the gods, but she went only on errands of mercy and love. 
She was the beautiful Iris, the rainbow, and was the especial attache of Juno. 
There may be in this a remembrance of the bow that appeared after the 
flood. 

The twelve gods and goddesses who dwelt on Olympus were named 
Jupiter, the king, and his wife, Juno ; Vulcan, the god of fire, and his wife, 
Venus, the goddess of beauty ; Apollo, the god of day, and his sister, Diana, 
the queen of the night ; Neptune, the god of the sea ; Latona, the mother of 
the twins Apollo and Diana ; Minerva, or Pallas, who sprang from the 
brain of Jupiter, and had the owl as her attendant ; Mercury, the messenger 
of Jupiter ; Vesta, the goddess of the home, and Ceres, the goddess of the 
harvest. These twelve had their palaces on the mountain, or, as some 
thought, in the sky above the mountain, but Neptune was only a visitor, 
because his home was the sea which he ruled with his trident, and where he 



10 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

had a whole host of lesser gods and nymphs, tritons, and sea-horses to attend 
him. The gods met every day in the hall of Jupiter to feast on ambrosia, a 
kind of food that made them immortal. They drank nectar from golden cups. 
Their first cup-bearer was Vulcan, but as he was lame and crooked backed he 
stumbled and hobbled about so awkwardly that the gods appointed Hebe, the 
goddess of youth, in his place. After a time she became careless, and one 
day fell down and dropped the golden cup with its nectar. This displeased 
them, and they sent an eagle to seize a beautiful youth as he was watching 
his flocks on Mount Ida. His name was Ganymede, to whom they gave 
ambrosia to make him immortal, and then installed him as their cup-bearer. 

Beside such food and drink as this, the people supposed that their gods 
delighted to feed on the smoke and smell of the animals, and sometimes the 
human beings, which were offered to them in sacrifices, or the incense and 
perfume of the libations poured out in their honor. 

There was a whole host of gods and goddesses beside these we have 
mentioned. They were of all sorts or degrees in power and dignity. Every 
river and stream had its divinity. Every mountain and wood was filled with 
its company of nymphs. And over all nature was a god whose name 
was " Pan." 

The quietest and best of all the goddesses was Vesta, the goddess of the 
home. She was connected with no intrigues, engaged in no disturbances, and 
remained pure and good. A fire was kept burning in her honor in every city, 
and never suffered to go out. No one could attend it but those who 
remained good and pure. Such were the notions the ancient Greeks and 
Romans had of their deities. We will now relate a few of the many stories 
of their gods and demi-gods, so far as these are connected with the histories 
of Greece and Rome. 

DAY AND NIGHT. 

The twin brother and sister, Apollo and Diana, were said to have been 
born in the island of Delos, which arose out of the sea to save their mother, 
Latona, when she was pursued by the monstrous serpent. Python, who 
wanted to devour her. Apollo was the god of the light and the real god of 
music. Diana was the queen of night and of the chase. The people of these 
nations of whom we are writing thought their gods and goddesses were born 
in full strength, so they said that the first thing that Apollo did was to slay 
the serpent which had pursued his mother. Apollo found him at Delphi 
and slew him with his arrows. This may be a hint of the old promise that 
" the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," or may suggest the 
manner in which light slays the dragon of darkness. These twins, brother and 
sister, were represented as pure and bright as the conceptions of men could 
make them, and were regarded as always young. Their arrows were the rays 
of light which they shed. The moon belonged to Diana, and was her chariot. 
The sun belonged to Apollo, who had a driver, Helios, the sun-god, who 



OLYMPUS AND ITS INHABITANTS. ir 

drove it for him. The conceptions of the ancients in regard to geography 
and astronomy were very crude and imperfect. They thought that the world 
was a flat surface, the center of which was Delphi, and all around the land 
was the ocean. In the east the beautiful Aurora, the goddess of the dawn, 
opened the gates with her rosy fingers, and the golden car of the sun came 
forth drawn by glorious white horses, guided by the charioteer Helios. He 
was attended by the Hours, scattering dew and flowers in his path. In this 
way the sun was driven each day along- the arch of the sky until it came to 
the great Western Ocean, where Aurora, clad in fair colors, met it, 
unharnessed the horses and fed them until they started upon their journey 
the ne.xt day. Aurora married a mortal named Timotheus, and gave him 
ambrosia to eat so that he might become immortal. But she could not 
prevent him from growing old, and he dwindled in size until he became 
a grasshopper, till at length only his voice was left, which can be heard 
chirping at sunrise and sunset. 

Helios had a mortal for a wife, by whom he had a son whose name was 
Phaeton. He beset his father to allow him to drive his horses for only one 
day. After a time Helios yielded to his entreaties ; but as Phaeton had 
neither strength nor skill to guide the strong steeds in the right curve of the 
sky there followed a fearful disaster. One moment the angry horses rushed 
so near the earth as to scorch the trees and dry up the rivers, and the next 
moment they flew so high into heaven that they would have burned high 
Olympus if Jupiter had not hurled his thunderbolts at the unskillful driver 
and cast him into a river where he was drowned. The sisters of the 
unfortunate youth wept until they were turned into poplar trees, and their 
tears changed to drops of amber. 

Apollo was the real god of music and poetry, and Mercury gave him his 
lyre. There were nine Muses under the charge of Apollo ; these Muses 
were the daughters of Memory and dwelt upon Mount Parnassus. They 
inspired mortals wath all noble and heroic song, and to the graceful music and 
dancing with which they celebrated their feasts. They also inspired hymns 
of praise to the gods and heroes, and taught men the science of astronomy. 

Diana, the beautiful twin sister of Apollo, was a huntress, and the 
especial patroness of hunters. She spent her time in the woods attended by 
her nymphs. She was modest and chaste, bold and fearless. Once when an 
unfortunate traveler, by chance, came where the goddess and her nymphs 
were bathing, she splashed the water into his face, and changed him into a 
stag. This poor man, Acteron, was thereupon pursued by his own hounds, 
who thought him a stag, and in this form killed him. 

There are traces of cruelty in the character of Apollo and Diana, for the 
darting rays of the sun and moon injure as well as bless mortals, and so they 
are the senders of all sharp and sudden strokes. There was once a beautiful 
queen who had six sons and daughters, who were so bright and lovely that 
their mother boasted that they were more beautiful than Apollo and Diana. 
This made Latona, the mother of the twins, so angry that she sent her son 



12 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

and daughter to slay the children of Niobe with their darts. This unhappy- 
mother, punished for her impiety by the loss of her beautiful family, wept a 
river of tears till she was turned into stone. Apollo, Diana and Pallas, or 
Minerva, were the gods of all that was noble, pure, good and lovely. The 
highest type of spiritual and intellectual beauty was represented by them. 
But the Greeks and Romans also believed in the powers of evil, and they had 
a goddess who was the impersonation of mere prettiness and charms of 
physical beauty with nothing high and noble. Her name was Venus, and she 
was said to have risen out of the sea just as the sunshine was touching the 
waves. Her golden hair was still wet with the spray as she came from the 
water in all the perfection of physical beauty. Venus was drawn in a 
beautiful coach by doves, attended by the three Graces and a multitude of 
little winged children who were called Loves. There was one special son of 
hers called Love ; Cupid was his Latin name and Eros his Greek. He 
carried a bow and quiver. When he wished any one to fall in love with one 
of the opposite sex he shot arrows tipped with gold, and when he wished to 
cause hatred he shot leaden tipped arrows. The groves of myrtle were 
the favorite resorts of Venus, but she married the ugly Vulcan who forged the 
thunderbolts of Jupiter. This may signify that as the ornaments of beauty 
are the result of hard work in the forge and on the anvil, the god of the forge 
is wedded to the queen of beauty. But she never behaved well to him unless 
she wished to get something that his skillful hands could produce. She was 
especially fond of Mars, the god of war, another evil divinity, who was cruel, 
violent and fierce, and scattered war and strife wherever he went. He had a 
horrid and bloodthirsty daughter called Bellona. His star is the " blood-red 
planet Mars," but Venus had the beautiful star called by her name, which is 
the morning or evening star, according as it can be seen by mortals at sunrise 
or sunset. 

Venus was fickle in her friendships and untrue to her lovers. Her 
conquests were not confined to the immortals, but she also fell in love with 
human beings. There was one beautiful youth, named Adonis, who died 
from a wild boar's thrust, and while his life was ebbing away some of the 
blood which flowed from the wound gave a beautiful crimson stain to the 
flower pheasant's eye, which is still called by his name. The death of her 
favorite made Venus so wretched that her entreaties finally persuaded Jupiter 
to decree that he should come back and live on earth one half of the year, 
but the other half he must live in the realm of Pluto under the earth. This 
represents the fact that the plants and flowers are beautiful for one half the 
year and then die down to rise again in the spring. 

There is another version of the same story, which we think is much finer 
and prettier than this, but it has much the same signification as the above. 
You remember that Ceres was the grave and matronly goddess of corn who 
presided over harvests and all the fruits of the earth. She had one fair and 
beautiful daughter, Proserpine — or the Greek Perserphone — who was one day 
playing with her maidens near Mount Ida, in the meadows where the flowers 



OLYMPUS AND ITS INHABITANTS. 13 

were growing. Pluto, the god of the lower world, saw her and became 
enamored with her beauty. He seized her and dragged her away to make 
her his bride. The bereaved mother, Ceres, did not know what had become 
of her daughter and refused to eat or drink. In this condition she wandered 
up and down the world, lamenting her loss and searching for her darling. 
She became perfectly exhausted and at last was taken in and cared for by 
Celeus, the king of Eleusis, who thought that she was a poor woman, and 
appointed her nurse to his infant son, Triptolemus. The kingdom of Eleusis 
at once was blessed with abundant harvests of grain and fruits, but no rain 
would fall and no crops would grow for the other famishing nations on the 
face of all the earth outside its domain. Iris, the messenger of mercy, and 
then all the motley family of the gods and goddesses, came to Eleusis and 
besought Ceres to relent of her cruel purpose ; but she would not grant their 
request unless her beautiful daughter, Proserpine, were returned to her. 
Finally Jupiter sent Mercury to bring her home from the domain of Pluto ; 
but he would permit her to remain on earth only on one condition, namely,, 
that she had not eaten any kind of food while in the under world. Pluto, 
who knew of this condition, compelled her to eat one-half a pomegranate, and 
because of this she could not remain with her mother in the upper world. 
The tears of Ceres prevailed so much with Jupiter that her darling was- 
permitted to spend the summer in the upper world, but she must return to 
her husband Pluto in the winter. 

It is related that while Ceres was acting as a nurse to the little Trip- 
tolemus, the son of Celeus, she became so fond of him that she desired to 
make him immortal. As she had no ambrosia with her she could do this 
only by putting him on the fire night after night until the mortal part should 
be wasted away. One night, as she was doing this, the mother of the infant 
looked in, and shrieked so loudly when she saw the cruel operation that she 
prevented the efforts of Ceres to make her son immortal. All that could 
be done for the child was to give him grains of wheat and a dragon car, 
in which he traveled around the world teaching the people to sow seed and 
raise harvests. 

Proserpine, the daughter of Ceres, seemed to be contented in the home of 
her husband, Pluto, where she reigned with him. These domains were 
supposed to be under the volcanic grounds of Southern Italy, and could 
be entered through the Lake Arvernus. The entrance to these regions was 
guarded by the famous three-headed dog, Cerberus, and the River Styx 
flowed between the upper world and the home of the shades. 

The spirits of all who had died during the day were conducted by 
Mercury every night to the banks of the river, and taken over by the ferry- 
man, whose name was Charon. The spirits of all who had been buried with 
funeral rites were ferried over upon their paying Charon a small bit of money. 
For this purpose a small coin was placed upon the tongue of the corpse when 
buried. But the souls of all who had been drowned in the sea, or had 
fallen in battle and remained unburied, were compelled to flit about begging 



14 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

in vain to be taken across the river. After the spirits had crossed over they 
were judged by three judges, and if they had lived wicked lives they were 
sent over a river of fire to the regions of Tartarus to be punished for their 
sins. The three furies, Alecto, Megara, and Tisiphone, whose hair was 
composed of writhing snakes, tormented them with scourges made of serpents. 
If the men had been brave and virtuous during life, their souls were permitted 
to dwell in the Elysian fields, where Pluto and his wife Proserpine reigned. 
They walked in beautiful groves amid unfading flowers, and enjoyed the most 
pleasant things. But the notions which the ancients had of an after life seem 
sad and imperfect beside those of the nations who believe in the truth. It 
seems as if these spirits were always uneasy and desired to return to the 
upper air. In the under world dwelt the three Fates, who were superior even 
to Jupiter himself. They were always spinning the threads of human life. 
Clotho held the distaff, Lachesis drew out the thread, and Atrophus, with her 
shears, cut it off when men died. Jupiter was all powerful among the gods 
and men, but nothing could happen contrary to Fate, which was therefore 
stronger than he. 

MEN AND WOMEN. 

You will remember that we spoke of the race of giants called Titans, who 
rebelled against Jupiter, and whom he overcome by the wisdom of Minerva. 
They were confined under the mountains which they intended to pile upon 
each other so that they could scale the sky. But there was one of them who 
was so noble and good that he did not rebel with the rest, and prevented his 
brother from doing so. His name was Prometheus, or Forethought, and his 
brother was Epimetheus, or Afterthought. After the defeat of the rebels, 
Jupiter commanded Prometheus to make men out of mud, and com- 
manded the winds to blow the breath of life into them. Prometheus 
loved the beings he had made, and taught them the way to live, till the soil, and 
use the animals for labor. He taught them to sail the sea and study the sky 
and stars. But Jupiter became so jealous for fear that the men would become 
too powerful that he refused to allow them to have any fire. Their bene- 
factor, Prometheus, climbed up the sky and stole fire for them, which he 
trought down in a hollow reed. This incensed the gods, who thought it was 
time to put a stop to this. So they sent a beautiful woman adorned with all 
-charms by Minerva to the earth. She was given a box filled with all kind of 
pains, woes, and troubles, and nothing good but hope, which was put in the 
bottom of the box. Her name was Pandora, or All Gifts. She came to the 
home of the two giants when Prometheus was away, and his brother 
Epimetheus, seeing how beautiful she was, and listening to her sweet voice, 
trusted her, and opened the box. Then all the pains, griefs, woes and evils 
which afflict humanity came out and flew over the world ; only hope was left 
inside, to which man may cling amid all the evils which beset him. After 
awhile there came better spirits, who were called Prayers ; but they were 



OLYMPUS AND ITS INHABITANTS. 15 

lame, and came after the evils which trouble men, showing that man is not 
accustomed to pray till some harm or evil has befallen him. At this time the 
gods agreed to receive the sacrifices of men, and by a trick of Prometheus 
Jupiter was induced to accept the fat and inward parts of the animal instead 
of the flesh and bones. All these acts which Prometheus had done for the 
good of men so angered Jupiter that he resolved to punish him. Because he 
^^■as immortal he could not be killed, therefore he was chained to a rock on 
Mount Caucasus, and Jupiter sent an eagle to continually tear out a part of 
his liver as fast as it should grow. But in all his agony Prometheus kept up 
hope, for he knew that some time deliverance would come. He still remained 
the friend and counselor of all men who came to him. 

When men became so wicked, owing to the evils from Pandora's box, that 
Jupiter resolved to drown them in a flood, Prometheus warned his mortal son, 
Deucalion, to build a ship and store it with all kinds of food. When the flood 
came, Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha, floated about in their vessel for nine 
days, until all other men and women had been drowned ; and when the 
waters had subsided they landed on Mount Parnassus. By offering sacrifices 
to Jupiter he was appeased, and sent Mercury to ask Deucalion what favors 
he would like bestowed upon him. His prayer was that the earth might be 
re-peopled, upon which the god told the man and his wife to walk up the hill, 
.and cast behind them the bones of their grandmother. Now they knew that 
the earth was said to be the mother of the Titans, and Prometheus, the good 
Titan, was his father, so they considered the stones as the bones of their 
grandmother. Therefore, as they went up the hill they threw the stones 
which they picked up behind them, and those which Deucalion threw became 
men, those which his wife, Pyrrha, threw became women. And so the land 
■of Greece was peopled after the flood. Deucalion had a son whose name was 
Hellen, and this son was the father of three brothers, y^iolus, Dorus and 
Xanthus. .(Eolus was the ancestor of the .^Eolian Greeks, and is supposed 
to be the same j^olus who was regarded as the god of the winds and lived in 
the Lipari Islands. He confined the winds in a cave, and let them out to 
blow over the sea. The winds were : Boreas, the cold north wind ; Auster, the 
rainy south wind ; Eurus, the chilly east wind ; and Zephyr, the gentle west 
wind. The truth is, the .(^iolians did really inhabit the islands and the 
region about Corinth. One of the sons of yEolus is said to have cheated 
Jupiter, and for his crime was doomed to Tartarus, where he was punished by 
continually rolling a stone up a steep hill, which, as soon as it was near the top, 
rolled back, and Sisyphus — for that was his name — had to roll it up again. 
Dorus was the ancestor of the Dorians, but Xanthus had a son, Ion, after 
whom the lonians were named. 

One more story of the peopling of Greece and a strange one will sufifice 
for the present. A fair lady, whose name was Europa, was sporting in the 
meadows which skirted the Phcenician coast. Suddenly a beautiful white 
bull came up to her, allowed her to wreathe his horns with flowers, lay down 
beside her, and seemed to invite her to mount his back. When she ventured 



i6 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

to do so, he arose, ran into the sea, and swam away with her out of sight. 
He took her to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to a son, whom she 
named Minos, who became so good and just a king that after his death Pluto 
appointed him, with two others, to be the judges in the lower world. Europe 
was named after this lady, Europa, because the people of Asia who grieved for 
her loss came over in search of her. Her father, mother and brother went 
everywhere in search of their lost Europa. Cadmus, the brother, with his 
mother, went far and wide, till the mother died, and Cadmus came to Delphi. 
He was told by the oracle to cease his search for his sister, and follow a cow 
until she fell from loss of strength, and on that spot build a city. He followed 
the animal as directed, and came into Boeotia, where she fell down. He made 
preparations to offer up the cow ; but when he went to a fountain near by to 
get water a fierce dragon came out, and after a severe struggle Cadmus over- 
came the monster. Minerva, who had aided him, advised Cadmus to take the 
dragon's teeth and sow them in the ground. These dragon teeth sprang up 
as equipped warriors, who at once began to fight each other ; but five of them 
made friends and aided Cadmus in building the city of Thebes. After all 
this wild story we may be surprised to hear that Cadmus brought in the use of 
letters and taught writing. 

Bacchus was the grandson of Cadmus. He was an orphan, who was 
brought up by the nymphs and Mercury. When he grew to be a man he 
became a mighty conqueror, and traveling to India and Egypt he taught the 
people to plant the vine, and how to use wine. He was at last the god of 
wine and drunkenness. Bacchus was constantly attended by an old fat man 
named Silenus, and by other creatures called fauns and satyrs, who were like 
men, but having goats' ears and legs. He had a crown of ivy, and was drawn 
in his chariot by leopards. He was finally admitted to Olympus, and as a 
god received the homage of men and women. The better class of men and 
women would not worship him because his rites were celebrated with most 
shameful ceremonies by Bacchanals, or young women frenzied with wine. 

Such are some of the myths connected with the histories of Greece and 
Rome. Many of them are beautiful and grand when they typify the opera- 
tions of nature ; but when they are clad with the attributes of men and 
women they become objects of ridicule or disgust. Indeed, many of their 
acts were puerile, and even wicked. With all their lofty conception of what 
is beautiful and lovely in form and feature, their conception of moral and 
spiritual excellence was far from rising to the heights of Christian teaching. 



■ TA'^'.i^t'x''/^, 



-■.-'jy-^i'iiiljM- 



SHOWING A CONNECTED 



)0-400 B.C. 

SYRIA. 

Subject to Persia nearly three centuries. 

PHOENICIA. 

466— Defeated by the Greeks while aiding Persia; 

battle of Eurymedon. 

GREECE. 

490— Ionian War; the rebellion pul down. 
4!)^— MARUONIUS, witha Persian fleet, wrecked. 
490— Seoolld Persian invasion ; battle of Marathon ; 

I'ersians defeated by the Greeks. 
480— TUlrd invasion of Persians under XERXES ; 

battles of Artttnesium, ThermopylEe and Sala- 

mis. 
479— Battles of Mycale and Plataea. 
47T— Athens becomes chief Greek State. 
464— Xliird Messenian war ; Sparta defeats Messenia. 
445— Tlllrty years truce between Athens and Lace- 

demonia. 
443— HERODOTUS flourishes. 
440— PERICLES defeats the Samians. 
431— Peloponneslan War, ending in the defeat of 

Athens by the Spartans. 
415- Invaslonof Sicily by the Athenians. 
400— Death of SOCRATES ; retreat of the Ten 

Thousand under XENOPHON. 



ROME. 

494— Patricians secede ; tribunes of the people 

appointed. 
493— Independence of the Latins. 

49I-COR10LANUS banished. 

489— The Volscians and CORIOLANUS besieges 
Rome. 

488— CORIOLANUS withdraws at his mother's en- 
treaty ; the Volscians slay him. 

484— First Agrarian law proposed. 

471— Election of plebeian magistrates given to the 
Comitia Tributa. 

4.58— CINCINNATUS dictator; defeats the .Equi. 

457— Decemviri govern (Council of Ten) ; they in- 
stitute the Ten Tables (Code of Laws). 

449— VIRGINIUS kills his daughter VIRGINIA to 
save her from CLAUDIUS ; deceravirate abol- 
ished. 

440— Terrible famine in R«me. 

407 — The Volscians defeat the Romans. 



GAUL (France and Germany). 

Very little is known about the Gauls until the 
lime of JULIUS C/HSAR (Gauls in Germany 
and France 587 b.c). 



PERSIAN EMPIRE. 

492— Greece invaded by MARDONIUj, who is de- 
feated. 
485— Kelgn of AHASUERUS (XERXES I.). 
165— Death of XERXES I.; ARTAXERXES reigns. 
449— Persians defeated at Salamis by Greeks. 
4'e5— XERXES II. reigns. 
r4«l— CYRUS rebels; he is defeated and slain. 



GAY'S CHRONC 

HISTORY OF THE WORLD, 



39»— 300. 



333— ALEXANDER the Great conquers Syria. 
343— A Dynasty founded by SELEUCUS I. 
300— Antioch becomes the capital. 



352 -Revolt from the Persians. 

331 -The country subdued by Al EXANDER. 

323— Anneiea to Egypt. 



395- 

388- 

387- 

385 

378- 

372- 

356- 

346 

339- 

338- 

336- 

335 

323 

300- 



-Corinthlan War begins ; Corinth, Athens, Ar- 
gos, Thebes and Thessaly against Sparta. 

-PLATO founds Athenian Academy. 

Close of Corinthian War. 

Sparta subdues the Olynthians. 

-Union of Thebes and Athens against Sparta. 

Treaty between Athens, Sparta and the Allies. 

Third Sacred War. 

-Athens makes peace with Macedon. 

Fourth Sacred War, between PHILIP of Mace- 
don and the Athenians. 

Battle of Cha^ronea; PHILIP victorious. 

Accession of ALEXANDER the Great. 

Athens submits to ALEXANDER. 

Samlan War; ANTIPATER victorious. 

-Athenian democracy restored. 



396 

391- 

390 

389 

376- 

362- 

350- 

343- 

340 

332- 

321 

312- 



-The dictator CAMILLUS captures Veil. 

-CAMILLUS impeached and e.xiled. 

-Battle of Allia ; Romans defeated ; Rome burnt. 

-Gauls expelled and city rebuilt. 

-Civil war between patricians and plebeians ; law 

passed that one consul should be plebeian. 
-CURTIUS leaps into a gulf to save Rome. 
The Gauls defeated. 
Fifty Years' War with Samnites. 
War with Latins; Romans victorious. 
Treaty with ALEXANDER the Great. 
Romans terribly defeated by Pontius. 
The Via Appia completed (a great militarj' road)* 



340— Ganis in Greece 



394— Persians and Athenians defeat Spartans. 
351 — Sidonlans revolt and burn their city. 
331— Persians defeated by ALEXANDER the Great. 
330— .Assassination of DARIUS III.; Persia made 
part of the Macedonian empire. 



Designed for Gay's Standard Histories, by 'WILLIAM GAY 



:OGlCAL CHARTS, 

NCIENT AND MODERN, FROM 2800 B.C. TO 1884 A.D. 



299—101. 



846— Egypt conquers Syria. 
198— Independence reRained. 
170— Jerunalcm captured by ANTIOCHUS EPI- 
PHANES. 



it«:--.-;rV.;.-'BiJtvW*i*w^«»ai^.^>j:2^-;-: 



i«jtZa«i*/t-w^i^ -^'^^y 



268-ANTIGONUS of Macedon takes Athens. 

211— Treaty concluded with the Romans against 

PHILIP V. of Macedon. 
200— Tlie Alhes attack Macedon and defeat PHILIP. 
196— Creece declared free from Macedon. 
146— Greece becomes a Roman province- 



'''^ v'Sfif\.-.^i'y^^"* '^*y^'' 



295- 

266- 
264- 

256- 

250- 
241- 

23.5- 
218- 

217 

216- 

202 

201 

197- 

192- 

168- 

149- 
146- 
134- 

121- 

111- 

106 

102- 

101- 



-QUINTUS FABIUS defeats the Etruscans, Gauls 
and Samnites. 

-All Italy subject to Rome. 

-First Punic War ; Carthage disputes Rome's em- 
pire. 

-'*"i»'»l ^ictory over the Carthaginians by REG- 

-REGULUS slain at Carthage. 
-End of First Punic War ; Sicily a Roman prov- 
ince. 
-Invaxlonof Gauls ; Gauls defeated. 
-Second Punic War ; HANNIBAL defeats SCIP- 

-FLAMINIUS defeats HANNIBAL. 

-Battle of CannK ; Romans defeated, 

-SCIPIO AFRICANUS defeats HANNIBAL. 

£.nd of Second Punic War. 

-PrilLIPof Macedon defeated. 

War with ANTIOCHUS of Syria; peace con- 
cluded B.C. i88. 

-Battle of Pydna ; PERSEUS killed and Macedon 
subject to Rome. 

Third Punic War ; SCIPIO invades Africa 

■I'arthage destroyed. 

Servile War ; Sicilian slaves rebel ; conquered 
and slain b.c. 112. 

rivIlWar; CAIOS GRACCHUS killed. 

JTiigurthlni War. 

JUGURTHA defeated and Numidia subjected. 

Servile War in Sicily. 

MARIUS and CATULLUS defeat the Cimbri. 



ALBION (Britain). 



Believed to have been a part of the Continent • 
English Channel dug by King UTOPAS (Bru- 
tus), the Colonizer, whose name the island bear- 
eth (legendary). The Britains were known as 
telts; Druidism exists; the priests called 
Uruids. 



283— CauU conquer Roman army at Arctium. 
279-«a«il« near Delphi. 

i?>a\7?.""'iJr ^"^<:ked by EUMENESand ATTALUS. 
109-101— War with Romans. 



ERIN (Iri;i..\m.). 



NEMEDH is said to have come to Ireland 2000 
B.C. He was followed by the Firbolgs ■ they 
by the Twatha de Danans. and they by the 
Milesians of Scoti (legendary). During this 
period there is no authentic history of Ireland, 
although It was inhabited by a people in a good 
degree of civilization. 



100—3. 



65— Syria becomes subject to Rome. 
57— Many devastated cities restored. 
47— The liberties of the cities confirmed by JU- 
LIUS C^SSR. ' 

63— Absorbed in the province of Syria. 



86— Sylla besieges and reduces Athens. 
21— AUGUSTUS CiESAR founds confederacy of 
Laconian cities. 




91-Soclai War ; the Marsians. at first successful, are 
defeated B.C. 89. 

88- mithridatic War. 

87— Civil War between SVLLA and MARIUS ; MA- 
RIUS slain. 

82 — SYLLA becomes dictator 

79— Abdication of SYLLA 

Z5~5,"'^'*''"'^<^US leads revolt of the slaves, i;.c. 71 

63-Coiisplracy of CATILINE suppressed by ( 

60-Fir»t Triumvirate ; JULIUS CESAR, POM- 
PEY and CRASSUS. 

?l~~*-'^'*° ''^"'*''='': C/ESAR invades Gaul 

48— Battle of Pharsalia; C.HSAR defeats POM- 
PE V . 

46— CAESAR becomes dictator; suicide of CATC) 

44— Assassination of JULIUS CESAR. 

43— Second Triumvirate; OCTAVIUS, ANTONY 

.. . „ ""'' LEPIDUS j CICERO put to death. 

42-BsUtle of Philippi ; defeat and death of BRU- 
TUS and CASSIUS. 

41- War between ANTONY and OCTAVIUS end- 

o.T .r.. ed by marriage of ANTONY and OCTAVIA. 

32-ClvlI War of ANTONY and OCTAVIUS 

31— Defeat and death of ANTONY. 

27— OCTAVIUS becomes emperor under tiUe of AU- 

25— Pantheon erected. 
4— BIRTH of JESUS CHRIST. 



55 



-JULIUS CESAR invades Britain; Roman laws 
and customs introduced. 



58-Warwith C/ESAR begins. 
51— Can! subjugated ; Gaul a province of Rome. 
11-3— Teutons and Cimbri invade Gaul. 



CHART II, 



FROM 500 B.C. 
TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



o., 256 Chapel St., New Haven, Conn. COPYRIGHT 1883. 



n. 



THE AGE OF THE HEEOES. 




THE EXPLOITS OF PERSEUS. 

HE Greeks thought that many of their ancestors had 
performed wonderful deeds of daring in spite of numer- 
ous trials and difficulties, and after they had accompHshed 
their destiny they were raised to dwell among the gods. 
They styled these men heroes, which means a great 
and glorious man who has accomplished some noble 
action entitling him to honorable mention in history. 
We will now tell the story of one of these men by the 
name of Perseus. His mother was Danae, the daughter of one 
of the kings of "Argos. His eyes were bright and his golden 
hair was like the morning. While he was still an infant he and 
his mother were out at sea in a storm which cast them upon the 
Here a fisherman, named Dictys, took care of 
A cruel tyrant, Polydectes, desired to make Danae his 



fi r isle of Seriphos. 
J^ them. 
i'l^^ wife, and because she would not give him her consent he con 



fined her in prison and declared that she could not come out 
until her son should bring him the head of the horrid Gorgon 
Medusa. There were three of these Gorgons who were sisters, two were 
immortal and the other one. Medusa, was mortal. She was so beautiful 
that she boasted of being fairer than Minerva. This goddess, to punish her 
presumption, turned the hair of Medusa to serpents, and caused that any one 
looking upon her fair, sad face should turn into stone. 

Young Perseus resolved, for the sake of freeing his mother, to undertake 
the perilous adventure. His bravery was applauded by the gods, who under- 
took to aid him. Minerva came to him the night before he set out and held 
up to him the image of the three Gorgons. She pointed out to him the face 
of the one who was mortal and bade him not to pay any attention to the other 
two. She also gave him a polished mirror to reflect the image of Medusa, for 
he must not look upon her real self or he would be turned into stone. Mercury 
gave him an invincible sword and lent him his winged sandals, and bade him 
go to the sisters of the Gorgons, the nymphs of the Graiae, and compel them 
to show him the way. The young hero started upon his western journey and 
came to where the giant, Atlas, was holding up the sky on his shoulders. On 
the shores of this mighty ocean which flows around the world, in the misty 
land of twilight, he found the three sisters, the Graiae, who were born gray- 

2 



i8 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

haired and had but a single eye and tooth between them. This single eye 
and tooth they passed from one to another when they had use for them. 
When the first had caught a sight of this noble youth she passed the eye to her 
next sister that she might also see him. But Perseus was too quick and 
grabbed the eye away from her. He told the poor old nymphs that he did 
not intend to hurt them, but they must show him the way to the Gorgons 
before he would return it. So they told him the way, and, moreover, gave 
him a mist-cap, or helmet, that would make him invisible whenever he put it 
on. They also gave him a bag in which to put the Gorgon's head. With 
this information and the arms which had been furnished him he traveled to 
the ends of the world, holding the wonderful mirror before him. Perseus 
came upon the Gorgons while they were sleeping. These horrible mon- 
sters had necks covered with scales like those of snakes, at least two of them, 
their teeth were like boars' tusks, their hands were of brass and their wings 
of gold. He could see all of them reflected in the mirror which he held 
before him. With one blow of his trusty sword he cleft off the head of 
Medusa, the only one who could be slain, and, putting it in the bag which 
the nymphs had furnished, he hastened away. The sisters awoke and darted 
after him, but, putting on his invisible cap, he escaped from them on the 
winged sandals of Mercury. On his way to the East he heard a voice asking 
him if he had really slain the Gorgon. It was Atlas, the old giant who held 
up the heavens on his shoulder. Perseus told him that he really had killed 
her, but Atlas would not believe him until he was shown the head of Medusa. 
The first sight of the awful head turned the giant into stone, and there he has 
stood ever since on the west coast of Africa. All the maps of the world are 
named after him. 

But the adventures of Perseus were not yet ended, for as he was return- 
ing on his way by the Lybian coast he heard the sound of wailing. Here he 
found Andromeda, the lovely daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and 
queen of Ethiopia, who was chained to a rock to be devoured by a sea 
monster that thus the anger of Neptune might be appeased. Perseus 
hastened to her rescue and bade her be quiet until the sea monster came up 
to devour her. He waited until he heard the monster coming, and, command- 
ing Andromeda to shut her eyes, he held up the Gorgon's head before the 
monster and instantly he changed into stone. Thereupon the hero released 
the maiden and took her with him to Seriphos. 

Polydectes had thought that Perseus had been destroyed and he had 
attempted to compel Danae to become his wife by force, but she had fled to 
the temple, where she was safe, because the people believed that the gods 
punished any one who dragged their suppliants from the temple where their 
altars were built. The young hero came at the right time, when the tyrant 
was at a feast. Telling him that his commands had been obeyed he held up 
the Gorgon's head before the king, and at once the tyrant and his whole court 
were turned into stone. Then Perseus offered the head to Minerva and gave 
back the sword, cap and sandals to Mercury. 



AGE OF THE HEROES. 19 

Our hero then went to Argos, where in a game of quoits he had the 
misfortune to kill his grandfather, the king. He was called to the throne and 
lived happily with his wife, the beautiful Andromeda whom he had rescued. 
He kept out the foul worship of Bacchus from his domains. At last 
he changed kingdoms with another king and afterward built the city of 
Tiryas. 

The whole family were translated to the stars and assigned to a position 
around the north pole. You can find them in the sky any night when it is 
not cloudy. Perseus is the bright cluster of stars which seems to be climbing 
up to save Andromeda, who is changed to the bright stars in the form of a 
square. Cassiopeia is seated in her chair. Cepheus is there too, but he is 
smaller and not so easy to find. They are all in the north around the Great 
Bear. This story is an old one, told by many nations in many forms. 



HERCULES AND HIS LABORS. 

Jupiter boasted one morning among the gods that a son would be born 
that day in the line of Perseus who would rule over all the Argives. This 
made Juno, who presided over the birth of children, so angry that she con- 
trived to hinder the birth of the child whom Jupiter had in mind, and 
hastened that of another grandson of the Perseus of whom we have just 
written. So the great Jupiter was obliged to let this child, Eurystheus, become 
the king of Argos, Sparta and Mycenae. The boy whom he intended for this 
honor was endowed with wonderful courage and physical strength, but was 
kept in subjection by the jealousy of Juno. His name was Hercules, and 
with his wonderful strength was united a kind and generous nature that 
always made him ready to help those who were weak and in trouble. The 
hatred of Juno began while he was yet an infant in the cradle, for she sent two 
cruel serpents to destroy him. The young giant crawled from his cradle and 
strangled the two monsters, one in either hand. He was entrusted to the 
care of the chief of the Centaurs, by the name of Chiron. The Centaurs were 
a wonderful race of beings, who had the legs and body of a horse and the 
breast, shoulders and arms of a man. Most of these Centaurs were fierce 
and savage, but their chief, Chiron, was gentle and wise. Jupiter made 
him immortal and he acted as tutor to many of the old Greek heroes. 
Hercules was educated by this Chiron. When he was about eighteen 
two maidens, one representing Vice and the other Virtue, appeared to 
him and asked him to decide between them. He wisely chose the maiden 
Virtue ; and it was well that he did, for Jupiter had sworn as compensation 
for the cheat of Juno that if Hercules would accomplish twelve labors or 
tasks which should be imposed upon him he should be raised to dwell among 
the gods. 

Little did Eurystheus know when he imposed the severe labors upon his 
cousin Hercules that it was in the course of his destiny, and would aid him 



20 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

in attaining a position on Olympus. The first task was to kill a bear in the 
valley of Nemea. This bear could not be wounded with any weapon which 
Hercules could use and he was obliged to strangle the beast in his hands. In 
this fierce encounter the hero lost a finger. But the king was so much fright- 
ened at the sight of the dead beast that he commanded Hercules to leave the 
beast outside the gates of Argos. The second labor was awaiting the hero, 
and he was sent to slay the nine-headed Hydra whose den was in the marsh 
of Lerna. As fast as one head was cut off another sprang up in its place, and 
to annoy him Juno sent a crab to pinch his heels. Hercules called his friend 
lolaus to burn the necks of the hydra as fast as the heads were cut off, and in 
this way the monster was slain. But the king would not allow that this was 
a fair victory, because Hercules had been helped. There was a stag who had 
golden horns and brazen hoofs, sacred to Diana, which frequented the Arca- 
dian woods. Hercules was sent to chase this stag, and pursued it a whole 
year before he captured it. Then he had great difficulty in appeasing Apollo 
and Diana, whom he had offended. This was his third labor. The fourth 
was to catch alive a horrid wild boar who roamed on Mount Eurymanthus. 
Hercules chased the beast through a dense swamp and finally caught him in 
a net and brought him to Mycenae. 

The fifth labor was a difficult and peculiar one. Augeas, the king of Elis, 
was rich in horses and herds. But his stables were kept in a fearful state of 
filth. Eurystheus thought that he would disgust Hercules or cause his death 
by the unwholesomeness of the task, so commanded him to cleanse these 
stables. Hercules went to Augeas, and, without telling him that it was a 
labor assigned by Eurystheus, offered to cleanse the stables if he would give 
him one from every ten of his herd. Augeas promised to do this and con- 
firmed it with an oath. The hero then dug a canal and turned the water 
of two mighty rivers through the stables, cleansing them of their long 
accumulating filth. But when Augeas heard that this task had been assigned 
to the young giant he endeavored to cheat him out of his pay, and Eurys- 
theus would not count it as one of the twelve tasks because Hercules had 
received pay for it. He was ordered off at once to drive the Harpies away 
from the woods near Lake Stymphalis. These Harpies were horrid birds that 
had brazen beaks and claws, ready-made arrows for feathers, and fed upon 
the flesh of human beings. They gave forth a disagreeable and unhealthy 
stench. Minerva gave the hero a brazen clapper, with the noise of which he 
caused the monster birds to rise out of the forest and then shot them with 
poisoned arrows. Many of them were killed and the others driven away from 
the forest, and so the sixth labor was accomplished. 

Minos, the king of Crete, had made a vow to the gods that he would 
sacrifice anything that should rise out of the sea. The first thing that 
appeared was a beautiful white bull coming from the water, but he was so 
fine that the king was tempted to neglect his vow. To punish him the gods 
caused the bull to go mad and injure many of the people. Eurystheus 
thought it would be a great task to have Hercules bring this mad bull to 



AGE OF THE HEROES. 21 

Mycense. After a time he subdued the enraged animal and brought it to his 
cousin on his shoulder. 

He was then given a much harder task than the last. It was no less 
than to capture the fierce mares of Diomedes. These were wild, unmanage- 
able beasts who fed on the flesh of men. Hercules overcame the grooms of 
these beasts and drove them away, but he was pursued by their owner, Dio- 
medes. While our hero was engaged in fighting the tyrant and his people, he 
left the mares in the charge of his friend. After he had slain Diomedes he 
went back to find that the mares had eaten up his friend. He gave them the 
body of their master to eat, which made them tame and manageable. Then 
they were driven to Mycenae. 

On the banks of the Euxine, or Black Sea, dwelt a race of female warriors 
called Amazons, under the leadership of their queen, Hippolyta. She was 
the bravest of them all, and as reward for her valor had received a beautiful 
girdle. The daughter of Eurystheus desired to have this girdle, and Hercules 
was sent to obtain it. When Hippolj-ta saw how honest, hearty, and good- 
natured Hercules was, she was easily persuaded to part with it. But Juno, 
who was never happy unless she was engaged in some mischief, assumed the 
form of an Amazon and came down among the female warriors. She 
persuaded them that their queen had been deceived and stolen away by a 
strange man. So as they rushed down on their horses to rescue her, as they 
supposed, from her captor, Hercules thought that he had been led into a 
snare, and slew the queen, took her girdle, and escaped with it to Eurystheus. 

There was a three-headed giant called Geryon, who lived in the little 
island of Erythria far out in the west, where the ocean flowed around the 
world. He had a herd of wonderful purple oxen, which was guarded night 
and day by a two-headed dog. When one of these heads slept the other 
was awake, and so he could keep a strict watch all the time. Hercules was 
sent to get these oxen. After he had passed by Lybia he came to the end of 
the Mediterranean Sea, where he made a passage to the Great Ocean by 
dividing the land asunder and setting up the two mountains, one on either 
side. Mount Calpe in Europe and Mount Abyla in Africa ; these are called 
the pillars of Hercules. In his wrath at the rays of the sun, which scorched 
him, he fired at it with his arrows, when Helios, instead of being angry, 
admired his boldness, and gave him a golden bowl in which to cross the ocean 
which stretched to the west. Oceanus, the king of the Great Sea, lifted up 
his hoary head to frighten our hero by shaking the bowl and tossing it about, 
but the bowl was large enough to hold Hercules and all the o.xen. He killed 
the watch dog with the two heads, the herdsmen, and the three-headed 
giant, and brought the giant away. Then he returned the bowl to Helios 
and carried the oxen to Eurystheus, who offered them in sacrifice to his 
patroness Juno. 

Hercules was forced to take another journey to the end of the world. 
This time he was to bring home the golden apples which were growing in the 
garden of the Hesperides. These Hesperides were the daughters of the sky- 



22 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

bearing Atlas, and dwelt in the land Hesperus, the evening star. They, 
together with a dragon, guarded the tree which bore the golden fruit and 
grew in the garden. This time Hercules took a roundabout course by the 
way of the north. While traveling on this journey he fell in with the fearful 
giant Antaeus, with whom he was compelled to wrestle before he could go 
forward. Every time the giant was thrown to the ground he rose up twice as 
strong as he was before, until Hercules found that the only way he could 
overcome him was to lift him in the air above the earth and squeeze the 
breath out of him. This he did and then came on his journey to Mount 
Caucasus, where Prometheus had been chained to the rock, and aiming his 
arrow at the eagle which .was tearing away the liver of his victim slew the 
tormentor of the Titan, and then set him free from his chains. As a return 
for this kinduTjss Prometheus gave him much good counsel, and accompanied 
him on his journey as far as where Atlas was holding up the sky on his 
shoulders. According to this account Atlas was still able to move, and 
promised to go to his daughters and get the golden apples if Hercules would 
hold up the sky while he was gone. Hercules did so, and presently old Atlas 
returned with three of the apples, but said that he would take them to 
Eurystheus himself and Hercules must remain until he returned. Prometheus 
bade our hero say that he could hold the sky no longer without a pad to rest 
upon his shoulder, but when Atlas took the sky while the pad could be put 
on Hercules grabbed up the apples and left the old giant to bear his load 
forever. 

But one labor now remained to complete the twelve, and for this 
Eurystheus commanded him to bring the three-headed watch dog, Cerberus, 
from the lower regions. On this journey our hero was attended by both 
Mercury and Minerva, and he was led alive among the Shades, all of whom 
fled from him except the shade of Medusa whom he had slain, and one brave 
youth. Hercules gave them the blood of an ox to drink, and then went to 
Pluto, the god of the lower world, and asked his permission to take Cerberus 
to the upper world. Pluto gave him his consent if he would overcome the 
monster without any weapons but his hands. He then contended with the 
dog, having no protection but his lion skin, and overcoming him dragged 
him to the light. Some of the blood which flowed from one of the three 
mouths of the beast produced the plant called aconite, or hellebore, which is 
dark and poisonous. Hercules then carried the body to Eurystheus and 
showed it to him. He then safely returned the dog to the under world, and 
thus completed his twelve great labors. He was now entitled by the oath of 
Jupiter to a seat among the gods. 

JASON AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

Pelias had seized the kingdom of the rightful heir, his brother vEson, 
and was reigning as a usurper. One day as he was driving a mule chariot 
through the market-place he saw a youth of manly strength and beautiful 



AGE OF THE HEROES. 23 

form, carrying two spears and having only one sandal. Now it had been 
foretold that Pelias should be slain by a man wearing a single sandal, and 
the king was terror stricken when he saw this youth, whose name was Jason, 
and the son of his own brother .^son. The father of Jason, fearing that the 
king would slay his son, had sent him to the good Centaur, Chiron, to be 
educated and preserved. He had now grown to be a young man and started 
out on his fortunes. On his way to the city he had lost his sandal in 
carrying an old woman across the river. But this old woman was really the 
goddess Juno, who had come down from Olympus in this disguise to test the 
kindness of men. This act of Jason's made her his friend forever. The next 
day after the youth made his appearance in the market the usurper sent 
for him and asked Jiim what he would do if he knew a man were fated to 
kill him. 

" I would send him to bring the Golden Fleece," replied Jason. "Then 
go and bring it," said Pelias. This was the fleece of the golden-wooled ram 
which had been sacrificed to Jupiter, and its fleece hung up in the grove of 
Mars. The legend of the ram is this. You remember that we have said that 
Cadmus founded the city of Thebes. His daughter Ino had married yEolus 
as a second wife, but proved to be a cruel stepmother to his two children, 
Helle, the daughter, and her brother Phryxus. This cruel woman persuaded 
her husband, King ^olus, that he ought to sacrifice his son to Jupiter. 
When he was engaged in this and had prepared his victim for the altar, 
suddenly there came down from the sky a golden-fleeced ram, who took the 
two children on his back and started away through the air with them to 
carry them to Europe. On the way thither the girl Helle fell off into the sea 
and was drowned. The sea was called the Hellespont, or Helle's Sea. Her 
brother Phryxus came in safety to the shores of the Black Sea, where he was 
kindly received by the king ALetes, who sacrificed the ram to Jupiter and 
hung up the fleece, where it had remained to the time of Jason. When this 
young man had received the command of the king he set about preparing a 
ship for his voyage, and proclaimed all around Greece the fact of his under- 
taking, and called for noble and adventurous youths to join him. Many of 
the most noble of all the country who had been brought up with Jason in 
the school of Chiron flocked to his aid to the number of fifty. We can 
speak of only a few of them. Hercules, of whom we have written, was one, 
Theseus was another. This hero had already performed many wonderful acts, 
and his prowess was well nigh equal to Hercules'. He had slain the white bull 
"which Minos had neglected to sacrifice to Jupiter. This bull had also left a 
monster offspring, half man, half beast, which had committed many ravages 
upon the people of Greece. Theseus had slain him. He also killed the 
famous robber Procrustes, and performed many other exploits. Theseus had 
Taeen a great friend of Hercules and had gone with him to the land of the 
Amazons. There also came two brothers, Castor and Pollux. Their mother 
was Lcda, queen of Sparta. They had two sisters, Helena and Clytemnestra. 
It was said that all the four were hatched from two eggs ; Castor and 



24 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

Clytemnestra were from one egg, and Helena and Pollux were from the other^ 
These loving brothers had been pupils of Chiron, and also Peleus of yEgina.. 
He had wedded Thetis, one of the fifty Nereids, by whom he had a son 
Achilles, whom his mother endeavored to make immortal by dipping the 
child into the river Styx, and making him invulnerable, all but the heel by 
which she held him. He was at this time a boy, but we will learn more of 
him hereafter. There was one other of the company which came to Jason 
to join in his enterprise of whom we will speak. He was Orpheus, the son of 
the muse Calliope. He was regarded as the most glorious musician in all- 
Greece. 

All the fifty who started with Jason were noble youths of brave and 
fearless spirit. The ship which Jason had built to carry them was named the 
Argo, and from this the company were called the Argonauts. The ship- 
had fifty oars, and a piece of her keel came from the great oak of Dodona. 
All things were ready and the leader, Jason, stood on the poop of his ship' 
and poured out a rich libation to the gods from a golden cup. He prayed to 
Jupiter, to the Winds, to the Day and the Night, and to mighty Fate to give 
them a prosperous voyage. Old Chiron came down to the shore to see them, 
off, and he also prayed to the gods for their safe return. The oars kept time to 
the music of Orpheus as he played on his harp, and thus they set sail from- 
home upon their undertaking. 

They met with many adventures of a perilous and severe nature. After 
they had passed through the Hellespont they came to the Propontis, which- 
we call the sea of Marmora. Here they found an island called Bear's Head, 
where dwelt a race of giants with six arms. They were all slain by the 
Argonauts. On the coast of Mysia a youth, by the name of Hylas, went on 
shore to obtain water, but the nymphs of the fountain caught him and would 
not let him return. Hercules went in search of the youth, and neither of 
them returning the Argo sailed without them. But Hercules found his way 
back to Argos. They then came to where a wise king named Phenias lived. 
He was blind and beset by the horrid Harpies, who snatched away his food 
whenever he attempted to eat. Jason had among his crew two of the- 
winged sons of Boreas, who pursued these harpies and drove them far out into 
the Mediterranean Sea. Phenias then gave the Argonauts many wise coun- 
sels and sent them on their way. There were two huge rocks, the Symple- 
gades, which were floating in the sea. They would strike together and then 
float apart, leaving a channel between them. Phenias told Jason to send a 
dove between them, and if she flew through safely the ship might follow. 
Jason did so, and the dove escaped with the loss of her tail feathers. The 
Argo followed, each one rowing with all his strength, aided by Minerva and 
Juno, and just as they got through the rocks came together and broke off the- 
brass ornaments on the stern of the vessel. The rocks then became firmly- 
fixed, for Fate had decreed that when once a vessel had sailed safely through 
between them the moving rocks should stand still forever. 

The Argonauts met the old foes of Hercules, the birds of Stymphalis,. 



AGE OF THE HEROES. 25 

and after their encounter with them came in safety to the mouth of the river 
Phasis. Jason now sent to yEetes the king and demanded the golden fleece. 
To this he was told that he might have it if he would yoke the brazen-hoofed 
bulls who breathed flame, and with them plow a piece of ground and sow it 
with dragon teeth. Medea, a wicked witch, the daughter of the king, aided 
Jason after he had taken an oath to marry her. She gave him an ointment 
with which to rub himself, his shield and sword, and this would make him 
invincible for a whole day, so that neither fire nor sword could harm him. 
With this precaution he was able to master the bulls and make them draw 
the plow, after which he sowed the land with dragon teeth that Cadmus had 
given .^etes the king. These teeth sprang up as armed men, like those 
which Cadmus had sowed, and when they began to attack Jason he threw a 
stone among them which caused them to turn against each other. Then 
Jason could easily overthrow those who were left after the fight among them- 
selves. But after this the treacherous king would not give up the fleece, but 
plotted how he might burn up the Argo and kill her crew, when Jason, warned 
by Medea in time to save his vessel, was led by her to the tree where the 
fleece was nailed. Orpheus put the dragon who kept guard over it to sleep 
with his music while Jason carried it away. Medea carried off her little 
brother and went with Jason. The father pursued them, and the cruel Medea 
cut up her brother little by little as they were fleeing and strewed his limbs 
on the stream of the Phasis, so that her father, stopping to gather them up, 
was hindered and the Argonauts had time to sail away. 

They went home by another route, sailing away to the north, and came 
to the island of the goddess Circe, who purified Jason and Medea from the 
blood of the poor boy whom she had slain. They then came to the island 
where the Sirens dwelt. They were fair creatures, who stood on the shore 
and sang so sweetly as to lure the sailors to land. But the moment any one 
touched the shore the Sirens seized and strangled them and sucked their 
blood. Medea told Orpheus to play and sing so loud as to drown their song 
and thus elude them. They came into the Mediterranean somewhere near 
Trinacria. Here they had to pass between two lofty cliffs. In a cave under 
one of these cliffs dwelt a monster who had twelve limbs and six long necks 
with heads like a dog which would seize as many sailors out of every vessel 
that came within reach. This monster was named Scylla. On the other side 
was the monster Charybdis, who sucked down whole vessels with all their 
crew, so of the two evils the way by the side of Scylla was the safer. Perseus, 
the husband of Thetis, one of the nymphs, was on board of the Argo, and for 
his sake the fifty sisters of Thetis aided the ship safely past the danger. 
They now reached lolcus, the place from which they set out, having been gone 
but four months. Jason then gave the golden fleece to his uncle Pelias and 
offered the Argo as a sacrifice to Neptune, the god of the sea. 

After Jason had returned home from his journey after the golden fleece 
he found that his father .^son had grown very old, but his wife, Medea, the 
enchantress, agreed to make him young again. She gathered a number of 



26 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

herbs by the light of the moon, put them in a caldron over the fire, and 
then cut up the body of ^son and seethed it in the herbs all night. In the 
morning the old man appeared as a strong, black-haired youth, no older than 
his son Jason. When the daughters of the king Pelias desired to do the 
same for their father the treacherous Medea told them how to boil him in 
the caldron over night, but she did not tell them the right herbs to use, and 
in consequence they failed to accomplish their design and only slew their 
father. This so angered the sons of Pelias that they drove Jason and his 
•wife out of the kingdom, who went to Corinth and there lived for ten years. 
Then Jason became weary of his wife and put her away, so that he might take 
Creusa, the king's daughter. Medea was so angry at this that she gave the 
bride a poisoned robe, which killed her, and then slaying all her own children 
she fled away to the East in the chariot drawn by winged serpents, where 
she gave birth to a son, Medus, from whom the Medes descended. As for 
Jason, one hot day he fell asleep under the shade of the ship Argo where it 
was drawn up on the sands close by the temple of Neptune, and as he was 
sleeping a piece of wood broke off the prow and fell on his head. This killed 
him. 

Orpheus, the skillful musician, the son of Calliope the muse, went to 
Thessaly after his return in the Argo. There he taught the people music and 
softened their manners by his art. He was married to a lovely maiden, 
Eurydice, with whom he lived happily until she died from the bite of a snake. 
The wretched man went down to Hades in search of his wife armed with 
nothing but his lyre. He prevailed on Pluto to allow him to take her back 
to the upper air. The grim old king of the world of shades permitted 
Orpheus to play on his lyre, and by this means induce Eurydice to follow him, 
but he must not look back to see if she was coming after him. She 
followed him until, when they were nearly out of the world of Pluto, he looked 
back for an instant and at once he had lost her forever. From this time his 
song became sad and mournful, and at last the Bacchanals tore him to pieces 
because he would not join in their foul ceremonies 




in. 



STORIES FEOM CLASSIC LAIS. 



'^^ 




THE PEOPLE OF GREECE. 



'\ FTER we have read the preceding stories of my- 
thology which the people of Greece accepted as true we 
know that they are only the cunning inventions of the 
imagination. The Greeks loved to regard themselves 
as having sprung from the superior beings whom they 
gyT::^^^^^_^ called gods, demi-gods and heroes. But all learned men 
^^ ■ J))^ know that they, like all the other nations of Europe, as 

well as the Persians and Hindoos, sprang from the same common 
stock. They were of the family of Japhet and called Arians. A 
tribe which were called Pelasgi were the first who came and 
settled in Asia Minor, Greece and Italy. After them arose the 
Hellenes, who were quicker and more intelligent and overcame 
them. The people we call Greeks were a mixture of the two and 
composed three lesser tribes, called ..-Eolians, Dorians and lonians. 
The old name of Greece was Hellas, from which came the name 
Hellenes. 

The old heroes of whom we have been writing lived, if they ever existed, 
about the time the judges were ruling in the land of Canaan. There is no 
doubt that a city once existed called Troy, and that it was destroyed in the 
time of Saul, the first king of Israel. There is hardly anything, either histor- 
ical or mythical, told of the Greeks for three hundred years after this time. 
We know that they were divided into petty States, each independent of the 
others, but all regarding themselves as descended from a common stock and 
claiming relation with their kindred in the yEgean Islands, on the coast of 
Asia, and in Sicily and Italy. For a long time after the heroic age there 
were numbers of poets who wandered from place to place and sang of their 
gods and heroes. These poets composed a great mass of hymns and lono- 
poems in which they delighted to tell of the wonderful things that happened 
in the ages before, but they mixed up so much that was true and false in their 
productions that it is now impossible to distinguish between them. One of 
the greatest of these poets was the blind Homer. His songs of the wrath of 
Achilles and the wanderings of Ulysses were loved and sung by every one. 
The story of the golden fleece and the siege of Troy, with the wonderful 
adventures of their forefathers, the Greeks, who united in some common 



28 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

enterprise, were grand productions of human genius. Seven cities have laid 
claim to being the birthplace of the blind poet. These great poems and 
the common religion did much to bind the people of Greece together. 
Everybody went to Delphi to consult the oracle there. Hercules established 
the national games, which drew the noble youth together from every city and 
State of Greece to contend in the foot and chariot races, boxing and wrestling 
matches, throwing the quoits and heavy weights, and to engage in the singing 
and reciting of poems. These games were celebrated at Olympia, where there 
was a great festival held every five years. These became of such importance 
as to form the date of the year to record any event or to make a reckoning of 
time. The method of recording this was to say that it happened in such a 
year of such an Olympiad. The first of these is fixed at the year 776 B.C., 
which was two thousand six hundred fifty-eight years ago. There were other 
games celebrated every third year on the isthmus near Corinth and called the 
Isthmean games. It was regarded the highest honor to win the prize at one 
of these games, and the fortunate victor was regarded by the people as a hero. 

At the first a family grew into a clan, then into a tribe, and afterward 
into a nation that settled in some region and kept up its tribal and clan 
divisions. This was the way with all the nations which came from the east. 
The father of the family ruled over his house and was the chief of a clan or 
tribe that descended from him. Then the strongest chief would lead the 
nation in war and become its king. But the States of Greece seemed to have 
dropped this arrangement and to have had a council of the chief men of 
each tribe, called Amphictyons, who arranged all the matters pertaining to 
religious and civil affairs. There was a great Amphictyonic council from all 
parts of Greece, which came together to consult about general matters and 
to receive oracles at Delphi once a year. The chief heads of families were 
called aristoi, while those who were not admitted into the councils, but who 
had the right to choose their own governors and vote on all important 
matters, were called demos, or the people. Our words aristocracy and 
democracy came from these two words. 

The cities of Greece were usually beautiful places built in valleys, and 
each one had several temples to the gods. These were furnished with a 
shrine of elaborate workmanship for the image of the divinity, and an altar 
for sacrifices. There was a colonnade of stone pillars and an ascent of stone 
steps leading to this. Every city had its market-place, where the people also- 
assembled to decide public affairs, and here the fires of Vesta were kept 
burning. The noblest and best man had charge of these fires, and whenever 
a colony went to a new place to settle they took a lighted brand with them 
to light the vestal fire upon the new altar to be erected there. Their 
houses were built around an open court, in which was a fountain and an altar 
to the ancestor of the owner of the house. The rooms were used only as 
sleeping rooms, for the men lived in the cloister or pillared walk built around 
the house. The women were more retired. The men tilled their farms by 
the aid of slaves, and the women spun wool and flax, making them inta 



STORIES FROM CLASSIC LANDS. 29 

•garments for themselves and their husbands and family. The warriors were 
clad in a helmet and carried a breastplate. They used swords, spears, daggers, 
and sometimes bows and arrows. They did not use chariots because the 
country was full of hills and mountains, but were sometimes mounted on 
horseback. They had a wide sea-coast and understood how to build vessels 
for war and used them skillfully. They were also extensively engaged in 
commerce of all kinds. But the highest distinction of the Greeks was 
their power of thought and their conception of all that was graceful and 
lovely in art and literature. They had men who were always in search of 
truth and beauty whom they called philosophers. So it came to pass that 
nearly all the arts and sciences began with them, and arose to the highest 
state of perfection. Their poems and histories were so well written that 
they are the standard of classic literature for all time. Although Greece was 
so small a country and divided up into so many petty States, her cities 
•contained the most wonderful works of art, and her men became the most 
renowned in the world. The whole of these States would not be as large as 
•some of the States in the American Union, yet her history was the most 
wonderful of any nation except that of the Jews. The history of the Jews 
illustrates what Providence can do for men ; the history of Greece displays 
what men can do for themselves. 

There were twenty little States which composed Hellas, or all Greece, 
the chief of which were Thessaly, Corinth, Boeotia, Attica, Doris and 
Epirus, Laconia, Messenia, Argolis and Elis. In these States there was 
some chief city which arose to distinction and obtained control of the 
•entire State, so that their rulers, kings, or archons, were the rulers of that 
State. For example, Sparta was the chief city of Laconia, and the Spartan 
kings and laws governed that State. Athens was the chief city of Attica 
and decided her fortunes. The chief city of Argolis was Argos. 

LYCURGUS AND THE SPARTAN LAWS. 

When the sons of Hercules returned with their Dorian followers, who 
•called themselves Spartans, they became rulers of the land and allowed the 
original Greeks to remain free, all but the natives of one city, Helos, who 
revolted from them and were forced to the condition of slaves. They were 
called Helots. One of these Spartan kings had twin sons, who reigned 
together, and their sons after them, so there came to be two kings reigning 
at the same time in Sparta. One line was termed Agids, from Agis, its 
•second king, and the other Eurypontids, from Eurypon, the third king. In 
the third generation from Eurypon the affairs of State had fallen into a sad 
•condition. The king of this line had been killed, and his wicked queen, 
now a widow, offered to slay her infant son if her husband's brother, 
Lycurgus, would marry her, so that she would still be queen. Lycurgus 
advised her to send the child alive to him that he might dispose of it, but 
instead of slaying him he took him to the council and had him crowned 



30 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

by the name of Charilaus, king of Sparta. The people who thought that 
Lycurgus had killed the child murmured against him, and after he had 
placed the boy in safe keeping he started to travel around the world, that 
he might study the laws and ways of other countries. At Crete he learned 
the laws of Minos, and in Asia Minor he is said to have seen and talked 
with Homer. Then he went to Egypt and India, where he obtained an 
insight into the Brahmin philosophy. 

On his return to Delphi he prayed to Apollo until he received an 
answer that his laws should be the best and the State which obeyed them 
the most famous in all Greece. He then came back to Sparta, where thirty- 
brave men bound themselves to aid him in enforcing his reform. But his 
nephew at first supposed that it was a league against him, and fled into the 
temple of Minerva. Lycurgus told him that their only intention was to 
make laws by which the Spartans should become wise and brave. These 
laws would apply only to the real Spartans. First there was to be an 
equal division of all the land. No money was to be used in the State except 
the base iron coin, which was so bulky as to be useless for hoarding. No 
one could use gold or ivory or any luxuries. The men were to become 
highly disciplined soldiers, and for this purpose were obliged to live in public 
barracks and eat at a common table. Their fare was of a coarse and 
simple nature. The boys were admitted to this training as soon as they 
were old enough, and were told upon their first entrance by the eldest man 
present: " Look you, sir ; nothing said here goes out there." Words were 
used sparingly, and hence came the term " laconic." The chief point was to 
make good soldiers, and every family tie and social instinct had to bend to 
this. The Spartan soldier must never turn his back to his foe, and when the 
youth went forth to battle each mother gave her son one of the long shields 
and said, " With it, or on it." 

The bodies of those who had been slain were carried off by their 
comrades on the shield, and no man dared return home without the shield 
he carried away with him. The women were trained to athletic exercises, 
and all classes from the king and nobles to the common people were 
compelled to endure the same hardy exercise and discipline. There were five 
men termed ephors, or judges, who acted as high-priests and chief captains, 
and made peace and war. They had more authority than the king. This was 
the rigid system which Lycurgus introduced, and which in time made the 
Spartan race so renowned for their simple manners and great bravery. At 
first these laws displeased the people, and while the lawgiver was proposing 
them a young man by the name of Alcander struck him a blow on the face 
with his stick and put out his eye. The citizens were shocked, and left 
Alcander in the hands of L}'curgus to be punished. He spared the young 
man, who afterward became his warmest friend and waited upon him while 
eating. When he had established his laws and taught the Spartans to 
observe them he told the people that he was about to make another journey, 
and extorted an oath from them that they would observe his laws until his 



STORIES FROM CLASSIC LANDS. 31 

return. Then Lycurgus went away to die and never returned. The Spartans 
kept these laws in force until they became a nation of brave and hardy 
soldiers and the news of a war was delightful to them. The Helots, or the 
enslaved natives of Helos, were compelled to do all the hard work on the 
farms, and were kept down by cruel power. The Spartans would sometimes 
make them drunk and show the Spartan youth how disgusting drunkenness 
would make men. In fact the whole system of Lycurgus was harsh and 
unfeeling, and transformed men into mere fighting machines. 

The first great Spartan war was with the neighboring State, Messenia, 
which fought bravely, but was reduced in 723 B.C. to the condition of Helots; 
only a brave band who fled to other States remained free. A noble youth, 
Aristomenes, was born among them, and he afterward collected all the 
boldest Messenians, and with the aid of Argos, Arcadia and Elis endeavored 
to wrest their country from the Spartans. Several battles were fought with 
varying success till at last the war turned against him, and in a battle on 
Spartan territory he was stunned with a blow from a stone and taken 
prisoner. With fifty others he was condemned to be hurled from a high 
rock into a pit. All the others were killed by the fall, but Aristomenes 
found himself alive in the pit with all his friends around him dead. He 
escaped by the aid of a fox and made his way back to his countrymen. To 
the great amazement of his foes he came again to give them battle, in which 
he gained the victory and compelled the Spartans to make a truce. But he 
was treacherously thrown into prison, from which he was liberated by a 
maiden to whom he gave his son in marriage. 

At length his chief city, Eira, was betrayed by a foolish woman, while 
Aristomenes was laid aside by a wound. In spite of this, he fought for three 
days against the Spartans, and then collecting his women and children in a 
hollow square of soldiery demanded a free pass through the enemy's lines. 
They were struck with such bravery, and allowed them to pass by untouched, 
and they came to Arcadia. The chief made one other attempt to conquer 
Sparta, but was again betrayed by a traitor. He waited in Arcadia until 
Damagetus, king of Rhodes, who had been told by the Delphic oracle to marry 
the daughter of the best of the Greeks, asked for the daughter of Aristomenes, 
and persuaded him to finish his life in peace and honor in Rhodes. 



SOLON, THE LAWGIVER OF ATHENS. 

The Ionian State of Attica jutted out into the ^figean Sea, north of the 
Peloponnesus. The chief city was Athens, named for its tutelary goddess, 
Pallas Athenae. She had caused the olive tree to grow, which was judged to 
be the best gift for mortals, and her bird was the Athenian owl. The 
Athenians claimed that their greatest king and first lawgiver was Theseus. 
After the death of the king Codrus, who gave himself for his country, the 
Athenians would not have another king, for they said that they would 



32 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

never permit a man less noble than he to sit on his throne. They therefore 

appointed magistrates, whom they called archons, to rule instead of kings. 

A state of misrule and disorder followed, and the people called upon one of 

their philosophers, Draco, to draw up a code of laws for them. These laws 

were very good, but so strict that the least crime was punished by death. It 

was said that " the laws of Draco were written in blood." Nobody could 

keep them, and they fell into disuse. Confusion again followed, until another 

wise lawgiver, named Solon, undertook to draw up a new code for the city. 

He was one of the seven wise men of Greece. The others were Thales, Bion, 

Pittacus, Cleobulus, Chilo, and Periander. Solon was an Athenian by birth, 

and descended from the old royal line. He had served in the army, and 

afterward had traveled to study and learn the customs of other lands, when his 

fellow countrymen called upon him to make these new laws for them. His 

code was not so unnatural as that of Sparta, nor so bloody as that of Draco. 

It would be difficult to explain all the system, and not to our purpose. The 

principal points to be remembered are these : At the head of the government 

were nine archons, who were to be changed every three years. There was a 

council of four hundred aristoi to aid the archons. These were the nobles. 

When peace or war was to be decided upon the whole people, or demos, had 

a right to vote, and whenever a man was considered to be dangerous to the 

public welfare he could be sentenced to be banished by a vote of the demos. 

They voted according to their tribes. The name of the obnoxious man was 

written on an oyster shell, and if they amounted to a certain number the 

man was said to be ostracised and forced to leave. Sometimes this was 

unjustly done ; but upon the whole it acted for the benefit of the State in 

getting rid of men who became wealthy and overbearing, and kept tyrants 

from rising over the people. The citizens were permitted to establish 

themselves in families, but they were compelled to send their youth to the 

schools to be taught the sciences, and to be trained in athletic exercises. So 

there arose from the system of Solon, and from the national character, a race 

of the greatest philosophers and artists that the world had ever known. 

Solon was a good as well as a wise man, and hated all deception and cheating. 

He once said to the great actor, Thespis, that it was a shame for him to 

speak so many falsehoods on the stage. The actor replied that it was all in 

sport. " Oh," said Solon, bringing his staff down on the ground, " but he who 

lies in sport will soon lie in earnest." Solon visited his friend Thales, and 

went from there to Lydia. The king of this country at this time was Croesus, 

•who was exceeding rich, and lived in splendid style, while Solon was simple 

in his habits and straightforward in his speech. Croesus welcomed the 

philosopher and showed him all his splendor. Some time after this he 

asked Solon "whom he regarded as the happiest man he ever knew." 

Solon said, " An honest man named Tellus, who was neither rich nor poor, 

had good children, and died bravely for his country." Croesus was chagrined, 

but asked "whom he thought the next happiest." "Two brothers named 

Cleobis and Bito," said Solon, " who were loving and dutiful to their mother, 



THE BATTLE OF MARATHON. 



33 



and when she desired to go to the temple of Jujio, yoked themselves to her 
car and drew her thither to show their love, and then laid down there and 
died without pain or grief." "But what do you think of me?" asked the 
vain, rich king. " Ah! " replied Solon, '' call no man happy until he is dead." 
Croesus was much mortified at this rebuff, and afterward neglected the wise 
philosopher. This king was about to make war on the Persian king, Cyrus, 
and sent to the Delphic oracle to know what the issue should be. The reply 
was, that if he did go to war a mighty kingdom would be overthrown. He 
thought that this meant the Persian kingdom, but it really meant his own. 
The war began, Lydia was overcome, Sardis, the capital, was burnt, and 
Croesus was about to be slain, when he remembered the warning of the 
Athenian philosopher. He cried out, " Call no man happy till he is dead I 
O, Solon, Solon, Solon ! " Cyrus heard him and asked what he meant. The 
story so impressed the Persian king that he spared Croesus and kept him as a 
counselor until his death. 

IV. 




BATTLE OF MAEATHOi 



E pass rapidly along the connecting links which bring 
the history of Athens down to one of the famous 
battles of ancient times. Pisistratus, a kinsman of 
Solon, overthrew his system of government, and 
reigned for thirty-three years as king. He was wise and 
discreet, and the Athenians were contented under his 
reign. Then his two sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, 
reigned afterhim, but were driven out in 510 B.C. This was regarded 
as the beginning of their freedom by the Athenians, and was called the 
expulsion of the Pisistratids. The laws of Solon then came into 
force again. Cyrus was now dead, but had left the great Persian 
empire to his successor. The Persians were overrunning all the 
world, and had come to the yEgean Sea. In the little island of 
Samos there was a king, Polycrates, who had been wealthy and 
prosperous. The Persian satrap sent for him to answer for displeasing 
the " great king," and when he came to Sardis to clear himself, hung him on 
the cross. Amasis, the king of Egypt, was a friend of the king of Samos, but 
had deserted him. The son of Cyrus, Cambyses, conquered Egypt, and soon 
after died. Darius then came to the Persian throne. This monarch had a 
Greek prisoner, who was a celebrated physician, named Democedes. When 
Darius had hurt his foot, and none of his doctors could cure him, this Greek 
slave effected a complete cure, and received many rich gifts. He longed for 
his home, and begged Darius to obtain Athenian and Spartan slaves. All the 
3 



34 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

Ionian Greeks were anxious to break away from the Persian yoke. Histi- 
aetus, who had been ruler of Miletus, and Hippias were anxious to stir up a 
revolt among the Greeks who had been conquered by the Persians. 

Histisetus had sent a letter to Aristagoras in a curious way, advising 
him to rise against the Persians. This message was written on the closely- 
shaven head of a slave with a hot iron, and when his hair had grown 
he was sent to Aristagoras as a present. This strange letter was read, 
and Aristagoras went to Sparta to induce the kings to aid him ; but on 
account of the warning from Gorgo, the eight-year-old daughter of 
Cleomenes, the king, who was at first inclined to listen to the messenger, 
refused to join in the enterprise. But the Athenians were induced to join 
with the Ephesians, Milesians, and other lonians. They attacked Sardis, 
which was held by the Persian satrap, Artaphernes. He threw himself into 
the citadel, but the Greeks burned the town, which was made of wicker work. 
Darius was furious when he heard of the burning of Sardis, but Histiaetus 
persuaded him that this would not have happened if he had been sent to 
Greece. So the king sent him home to put down the revolt, but he fled to 
the lonians, and remained till they were completely conquered. He then 
surrendered to the Persians, and was crucified by them. Darius longed to 
have Greek slaves, and thereupon he raised a vast army from all parts of his 
great empire to subjugate the little cities which held out against him and 
to punish them for their insolence. But he did not think that it was impossible 
to conquer a free people fighting for their homes by means of an army of 
slaves doing the bidding of a mere despot. The great battle was between the 
east and west, and decided the destinies of Greece for hundreds of years. 
Hippas, the exiled king, now an old man, was employed to guide the army of 
Darius to Athens, and thus betray his country into the power of the despot. 

The preparation for the war went on. The great Persian fleet, manned 
by Phoenician sailors, with a huge army were ready to overwhelm the 
little State of Attica, and then all Greece. As they came from island to 
island all the people submitted to them or fled at their approach. In all 
Attica there were only nine thousand fighting men to meet this great host. 
They sent to ask the aid of Sparta, but they could not march on the week 
before the full moon, because of some religious superstition, and in that time 
Athens might be in ruins. Only six hundred men from the small State of 
Plataea came to help them. This little army of less than ten thousand men 
were encamped near the temple of Hercules, overlooking the bay of Marathon. 
The vast army collected from all Asia, amounting to two hundred thousand 
men, lay on the plains below them in the shape of a horse shoe, surrounded 
with hills that slanted back toward the city. Miltiades was the best of all 
the ten generals, and by the advice of the wise Aristiades he was permitted 
to keep the command, even out of his order. He drew up his army in a line 
broad enough to cover the entire front of the Persian army, but not so deep, 
and when they came rushing down on the host at a full run they shouted 
their battle cry, " lo pcBan ! lo paan ! " The wings of the Persian army gave 



THE BATTLE OF MARATHON. 35 

way, but the center, where the ranks were more soHd, stood firm. Then 
Miltiades gave orders for the wings of his line to close in on the Persian 
center and crush it between the two divisions. The Persians fled in a con- 
fused rout to their ships and attempted to sail away. The Athenians tried 
to hinder them, but they got away, and instead of sailing to Asia they started 
on the course that would bring them around the promontory Sunium, as if to 
attack Athens. Now all the fighting men of the city were in the army, and 
Miltiades left one thousand men to bury the dead and hastened back with 
the rest to defend the city. The Persians were warned or changed their 
minds and sailed away to Asia. The Spartans, who were brave but supersti- 
tious, came up after the fight was all over and greatly praised the bravery of 
the Greeks. This battle, which happened 490 B.C., saved the whole of 
Europe from the slavery of the East. The brave Athenians who had been 
slain on the plains of Marathon were all buried in one mound, and a 
monument erected over them by the State. The Plataeans had another 
mound and the Persians a third. The vast amount of treasure which was 
seized from the Persians was taken to the city and honorably divided among 
the families of living and dead. There was only one exception. A man, 
Kallias, who wore long hair bound with a fillet, was mistaken for a king by a 
poor Persian, who fell on his knees and showed him (Kallias) where a large 
sum was hid in a well. Kallias not only took the gold for himself, but killed 
the stranger. The Platseans were rewarded for their help by being granted 
the freedom of the city of Athens as well as their own city. 

A year or two after this Miltiades was brought before the council and 
ordered to defend himself for having failed to take the city of Paros, against 
which he had gone to punish its citizens for aiding the Persians. He was 
found guilty of wasting the people's money and sentenced to death. But in 
view of his services at Marathon the sentence was changed to a fine of fifty 
talents of gold. The old hero, who was suffering from his wounds, could not 
pay this heavy fine, and before he was able to raise it he died. His son 
Kimon put himself in prison until he could pay the money and release his 
father's corpse, which was afterward buried with the honors of war on the 
battle-field of Marathon, with a tomb recounting his glorious deeds. 

There were two chief citizens who were left after the death of Miltiades. 
One was Aristides the Just, who was an upright, unselfish and public-spirited 
man. The other was Themistocles, who was selfish and very crafty. He 
judged in favor of his friends and took bribes, while Aristides was impartial. 
Themistocles was a demagogue and sought the favor of the people, but both 
were able men. Aristides had been born of noble family, but was poor, and 
Themistocles contrived to turn the minds of the people against him. One 
day in the market-place when they were voting whom they should banish 
from the city Aristides saw a man who could not write trying to get some, 
one to write a name on his shell. " Whose name shall I write ?" asked he. 
'■Aristides," said the countryman. "Why, what harm has he done you?" 
asked Aristides. " No harm," said the man, " only I am sick of hearing him 



36 



HISTORY OF GREECE. 



called ' the Just. ' Aristides wrote the name, and there being six thousand 
votes against him he was ostracised. 

.i^ischylus was a great poet who wrote tragedies to be acted upon the 
stage. When he was a little boy he fell asleep and dreamed that Bacchus 
appeared to him and told him to make his festivals noble with tragedies. 
Now the worship of Bacchus had come to be celebrated in Athens, but not in 
the wild and shameful manner as in other places. There were songs and 
dances by persons with their heads covered with ivy leaves, and they sacrificed 
a goat in the midst of their feasts. The Greek word for goat was " tragos," 
and the dances came to be called tragedies. Thespis, whom Solon had 
reproved, was the first to arrange a dialogue and a chorus for the actors and 
singers, and represent a play acted on the stage. When /Eschylus became a 
man he wrote some of the grandest plays that have ever been composed. They 
show how the grand old Greeks were longing and feeling after the truth, like 
blind men groping in the dark. It was the custom to have three grave 
plays, or tragedies, followed by a droll one or a comedy, so called after the 
god Comos. There is one trilogy of ^schylus preserved for us, but the 
comedy that goes with it is lost. It represents the death of Agamemnon, 
the vengeance of Orestes, and his expiation when pursued by the Furies. 



V. 



THE EMITIOH OF lERIES. 




joins it 
The G 
of chie 



HE son of Darius, Xerxes, was far more impetuous 
and ambitious than his father, and no sooner had he 
come to the throne than he gathered a vast army to 
invade Greece. In the spring of 480 B.C. he led this 
army across the Hellespont on a bridge of boats. When 
a storm arose which delayed him he was so angry that 
in his rage he commanded the sea to be scourged, and fetters 
to be thrown in to show his power to subdue it to his will- 
It is said that a " million million of men " crossed over, and 
as the king saw all these men he wept to think how soon they 
would be all dead. Besides this army he had a large fleet of 
vessels manned by Phoenicians and Greeks from Asia Minor. 
Instead of taking the course that his father, Darius, had 
followed, he sailed by the north coast of the .^gean Sea. 
Mount Athos, which juts out into the sea, made it dangerous 
g^^" to sail around it, and he dug a canal across the neck which 
to the mainland. The remains of this canal are seen to this day. 
reeks were aroused to a sense of their danger now, and called a council 
fs from every city to meet on the Isthmus of Corinth. Their ships. 



THE EXPEDITION OF XERXES. 37 

numbering two hundred and seventy-one, were collected in a bay on the 
north of the island of Eubrea. The Spartan captain watched and waited 
until he saw the beacon lights which told of the approach of the Persian 
fleet. He then took his position in the channel between the island and the 
mainland and waited for the enemy. Although a storm destroyed a 
number of their ships, still they had more than the Greeks, who ventured out 
on two days and fought a part of them, doing much injury. 

The large land force was marching on, and the only place that the Greek 
generals thought they could withstand such a host was in a narrow pass 
between Mount .lEtna and the sea, with an impassable marsh on the seaward 
side. There were hot springs here which gave the marsh and the pass the 
name of Thermopylae. They determined to send a brave band of Spartans 
under Leonidas to this point to defend the road. There were only three 
hundred of them, but they fortified themselves with a wall and waited for the 
immense army of Xer.xes to come on. They could see the host stretching 
far away on the plains beyond them, still they thought that they could hold 
the narrow pass where but few could come at a time. The Persians sent to 
them asking them to give up their arms, but they replied, " Come and take 
them." Xerxes saw how few they were and commanded his captains to 
bring them all alive to him, but for days he saw his best troops fall back 
before them, and hardly a Greek had fallen. There was a path over the 
mountain where Leonidas had placed a guard of Phocian soldiers, but the 
Persian did not know of this till the wretch, Ephialtes, pointed it out to 
them. If they could take this path and come on the Spartan band in the 
rear they would overcome them. The traitor pointed the way, and when 
attacked the Phocians fled. The foe came swarming over the path ; still there 
was time to retreat, but Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans with seven 
hundred Thespians would not leave their post, but stood ready to die for 
their country. The oracle at Delphi had said that either Sparta or a king of 
Sparta must perish. Leonidas and his men resolved to sell their lives as 
dearly as possible. The army of Xerxes were so afraid of these brave 
defenders of Greece that their captains forced them to fight by driving them 
with whips. The brave Spartans and their allies rushed out and fought with 
the Persians all day until the last one of the thousand was slain. When 
Xerxes saw the bodies of these noble men he asked if all the Greeks were 
like them. In after times the bones of the brave king were buried on the 
spot where he fell, and a mound erected over his warriors with these words 
engraved thereon : — 

"Go, passer-by, at Sparta tell 
Obedient to her laws we telU" 

Now that Thermopylae was lost there was no place where a stand could 
be made before coming to the Isthmus at Corinth. The council decided to 
build a wall here, but that would leave the whole of Attica outside, and the 
citizens of Athens held an anxious council to consider how to avert their 



38 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

peril. Before the way to Delphi was cut off they had asked the oracle what 
they should do, and the answer came, " Pallas has prayed for her city, but it 
is doomed, yet a wooden wall should save her people, and at Salamis the 
women shall be made childless at seed time and at harvest." Themistocles 
declared that the wooden walls meant the ships, and the Athenians ought to 
sail away and leave the city to its fate. Some of the old men decided to 
remain, but the women and children were sent to their friends in the 
Peloponnesus, while all the rest joined the fleet which lay off Salamis and 
now numbered three hundred and sixty-six vessels. The Persians quickly 
overran the whole country and overcame the few old men who held the 
Acropolis, and then burned the city of Athens. 

The whole hope of Greece now lay in her fleet lying in the strait between 
Attica and the island of Salamis. The Persian fleet in all its splendor came 
up six days later, and Xerxes sat on a throne upon Mount ^galoes to see the 
contest. Aristides the Just, who had been banished, came to Themistocles 
and said to him, " Let us be rivals still, but let our strife be which can serve 
his country best. I come to tell you that your retreat is cut off; we are 
surrounded and must fight." Themistocles said that it was the best thing 
that could happen, and gave him a place in his council. The contest began. 
Ship was hurled against ship and their pointed beaks cut down the enemy's 
vessels. Two hundred Persian ships were destroyed, and only forty of the 
Greeks'. The Persian mothers were the ones made childless, and not the 
Grecian. An immense number of ships and prisoners were taken by the 
brave fleet of Themistocles. When Xerxes saw the utter ruin of his hopes 
from the mountain he gave up all thought of conquering such a brave 
people, and determined to take his army back to the Hellespont as fast as 
possible, for his fleet was all gone. 




VI. 







THE BATM OF PUTM-THE AGE OF PEDLES. 

YRUS led his routed army back to Sardis, but he left a 

satrap, named Mardonius, behind him in Thessaly with 

his best troops. This man failed in his efforts to induce 

the Athenians to desert the other Greeks, and then 

marched into Attica to overrun the whole country, 

where the Spartans, under their general, defeated him in 

=1/ ' the battle of PlatJea. The best troops of the Persian 

army, termed the immortals, were routed and much spoil was 

taken, a tenth part of which was given to the god Apollo. 

Another battle was fought on the same day at Mykale by the 

Ionian Greeks. This battle freed the city of Miletus from the 

Persians, and was the first step in driving them out of their 

possessions in Greece. 

Athens was rebuilt with a strong wall, and the Greeks were 
again prosperous. Aristides died in 475 B.C., very poor, but 
greatly honored, and was buried by the State. The Athenians said that 
there was but one other Greek as pure and noble as he. But the fate of the 
■other two who aided him in driving out the Persians was far less honorable. 
Pausanias, the Spartan, proved a traitor and was starved to death in the 
temple of Neptune, where the Spartans had enclosed him in a wall when he 
had fled there for refuge. Themistocles deserted to the Persian king 
Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, and died rich but despised by all honest men. 
Athens and Sparta became rival States and never united except when a 
common great enemy opposed Greece. There were numerous revolts which 
broke out among the Grecian States, and the contest between them was often 
fierce and severe. A peace was declared in 445 B.C. and lasted thirty years. 
At this time Pericles was the greatest man in Athens and made it very 
beautiful with temples and statuary. When the Athenians were at the 
height of their glory a war broke out between them and the Corinthians, who 
were aided by the Spartans. This was known as the Peloponnesian war and 
lasted many years. Pericles died during the third year of this war, 429 B.C. 
His countrymen said of him, " Pericles had found Athens built of brick and 
he left her built of marble." After his death there was left no great general 
in Athens, but there was a noble youth growing up, called Alcibiades, who 
\vas destined to become a great general. 

Socrates and Plato and Xenophon were living in this age. Socrates was 



40 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

the wisest philosopher of Greece, Xenophon was a general and a historian, and 
Plato a wise disciple of Socrates. Alcibiades led an expedition against the 
Greek colonies in Sicily which had espoused the cause of Sparta, but was 
recalled to Athens to answer for sacrilege in destroying the busts of the gods. 
He was sentenced to be banished and fled to Sparta, where he tried to get 
his revenge on his own city. The Spartans distrusted him and he fled from 
them to the Persians. The war was disastrous to Athens and ended by leav- 
ing Sparta the leading State in Greece. Thucydides has written the history of 
this long and cruel war. He was a brave Athenian soldier and statesman, 
and knew all the men and saw the events which he has described. 

The Athenians were in great distress and oppressed by the Spartans,, 
who became their masters in the long war of twenty-eight years, ending in 
404 B.C. Thirty tyrants were appointed to keep Athens in subjection to the 
Spartan yoke, and in spite of the many brave statesmen and generals which- 
arose in Athens and other cities Sparta had all the power. After the land 
became quiet at the end of the Peloponnesian war, eleven thousand Greeks 
were hired by Cyrus, the brother of Artaxerxes Memnon, to come to Asia 
and aid him in taking the throne from the rightful heir. Induced by the rich 
promises of the Persian they went, and when the revolt was overcome by the 
king ten thousand Greeks were left in the heart of the eastern empire, with 
no general and no resources. Xenophon was with them, and binding, the 
captains by an oath to obey him he promised to lead them back to Greece. 
He succeeded in accomplishing the perilous undertaking, so far as to lead six 
thousand, all that were left, back to the Greek colonies in Asia Minor, where 
he delivered them over to a Spartan general who took charge of them. 
Xenophon returned to Athens after he had been absent two years and a half. 
He wrote the full history of this retreat, called the " March of the Ten 
Thousand," and it is now read as a text book in our colleges. Socrates, the 
philosopher, died the same year, 399 B.C. 




VII. 



THE BECLM OF GREECE 




HILIP of Macedon had arisen to great power and 
spread his kingdom over a large part of Greece and 
Asia Minor. Macedon lay to the north of the States 
of Greece, but the people were not regarded as real 
Greeks. Demosthenes, the great orator, delivered his 
most celebrated orations, called Philipics, against this 
Philip. But when he came to capture Athens, the 
orator, who had never been in a battle before, ran away. Mace- 
don gained the chief power over Greece and Philip was her chief 
man. Alexander the Great was the son of Philip and spread his 
domain over all the East, conquered the entire world and died at 
an early age. After his death the kingdom was divided into four 
parts and ruled by his four generals, who quarreled among them- 
selves. But as this is not intended to be a history of all the 
other nations of the world we will pass over this and come to the 
final struggle of Athens. The Greeks always hated the Mace- 
don yoke and hoped that Alexander would be lost in the wilds of 
Persia. After his death they were kept in subjection for a time by the threats- 
and bribes of Antipater, the governor of Macedon. 

The Athenians were anxious to rise against the Macedonians when they 
first heard of the death of the great general, but one of their wise men, Pho- 
cion, advised then to wait, " For," said he, " if Alexander is dead to-day he will 
be dead to-morrow and for all time, so we can take counsel at our leisure." 
The Athenians and the Thessalians formed a league and a young man, Leos- 
thenes, was given command of the army. He was brave but unwise in his 
counsels and Phoclon was afraid of him. Demosthenes, who had been ban- 
ished by the spite of his enemies, was now recalled to Athens in their great 
joy at the victory which had been gained over the Macedonians. After this. 
the Greeks were defeated with great slaughter, and each city was forced to 
make peace for itself. Antipater made it one of the terms of peace that the 
rebels who had advised the States to revolt should be given up. But they 
fled to different places, and men called exile-hunters were sent to pursue them 
and bring them to punishment. 

Demosthenes was captured in the temple of Neptune. He poisoned 
himself with a drug hidden in a reed, and when they dragged him out of the 
temple he bit off the end of the reed and thus died. Poor Athens was now 



42 



HISTORY OF GREECE. 



completely overcome and Phocion was doing his best to settle affairs, but 
after many attempts he was banished and fled to the village of Phocis, where 
he was taken prisoner. He was poisoned with hemlock as Socrates had been, 
but advised his son not to hold any grudge against the Athenians. He was 
regarded as the last of the Athenians, but his greatness was of a sad kind. 
At last the great empire of Alexander was broken up and there came a short 
time of prosperity to Greece, in which Epirus and then Sparta asserted some- 
thing of their former power under their kings. Phyrrhus, the king of Epirus, 
held his kingdom for fifteen years, and at last was killed, when forty-six years 
of age, while attempting to take the city of Argos. An Argive wounded him 
with a stone, and as he fell down a soldier struck off his head and carried it 
to Antigonus. After this came the Achaian league, by which the twelve 
cities of the Peloponnesus each governed itself and all joined together against 
a common enemy. Aratus became the greatest man in Greece and conquered 
many of the cities and induced others to join the league. 

Agis, a king of Sparta, had heard of the wonderful story of his fore- 
fathers, and he set out to live like an old Spartan and bring back the ancient 
rule, but he was overthrown by Leonidas, who sentenced him to death, 
together with all his family. Under this Leonidas Sparta retrieved 'her power 
to some extent, but she wasted her strength in fighting with Achaia instead 
of joining the league against the enemies of Greece. The States of Greece 
were engaged in fighting among themselves for several generations, and thus 
the strength of the country was wasted and her cities impoverished in a vain 
attempt to see who should have the mastery. There was a long list of philos- 
ophers, statesmen and generals, who each prided himself upon the renown of 
his particular State or city, and instead of working for the benefit of all Greece 
they were hastening her downfall. After the death of Philopoemen, who was 
styled the last of the Greeks, there was little spirit left in the Achaian league, 
and from this time there arose in all Greece no man after the old type of 
Philopoemen. Then the Romans came to take the country and quickly con- 
quered the whole of Greece, but left the cities to make their own laws and 
govern themselves, but in each city a Roman garrison was placed to preserve 
order. The Greek language and literature spread over all the world, and the 
sons of Roman nobles were sent to Athens to finish their education. So 
there came a time of peace which lasted five hundred years, but the freedom 
of Greece was gone. 




vm. 



GLANCES AT MODERN GREECE. 




HE Romans divided Greece into two provinces, Ma- 
cedon and Achaia, and sent a governor to rule over each 
province. The city of Corinth had been destroyed by 
the Romans for an insult offered to their ambassadors, 
and remained in ruins for nearly a hundred years, when 
it was rebuilt by command of Julius Caesar in the year 
46 B.C., and again made the center of commerce and 
art. Athens still held the position as mistress of learning and 
philosophy. Christianity began to spread in the cities of 
Greece by the preaching of Paul and other teachers who came 
to Athens, Corinth, Phillipi, and the cities of Achaia. The wor- 
ship of the old gods was given up and their temples were 
O abandoned, but the philosophers considered the teaching of the 
)'^'2' resurrection from the dead as foolishness. In all parts of 
Greece there were Jewish colonies, and some converts from their 
^'v^^Sf^^ numbers uniting \\-ith Gentile converts established churches in 
'^ S' nearly every place. For many years while Greece was held 
under Roman power there was quiet, but on the breaking up of the great 
empire whose center was at Rome the wild hordes of the North came down 
from the Danube and laid waste the beautiful cities. These rough warriors 
did not know the value of the works of art and the rich temples which they 
destroyed. After the bitter persecutions which came upon the Christians 
there was a long time of prosperity for them. 

When the empire was divided into the eastern and western the Church 
continued to be one, but a controversy arose about three words in the creed ; 
and at last, in the eleventh century, the Church was divided into two great 
factions, the Roman Church in the West and the Greek Church in the 
East. There is little to tell about Greece in these hundreds of years while 
this contest was going on. The Bulgarians, who had come in from the North, 
had become Christians, and all was quiet. But in the beginning of the 
thirteenth century the Moors and Saracens who had accepted the religion of 
Mohammed came in to rob and plunder the land of Greece, while from the 
"West came the fierce Northmen of Norway and Denmark, who laid waste the 
country. The poor, disheartened Greek had no courage to fight. The 
Venetians, who were refugees from Rome, built a city on the islands in the 
northern part of the Adriatic Sea. In time they flourished and joined in the 



44 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

great crusades which were raised by the Christian nations of Europe to take 
the sepulcher of our Saviour from the hands of the Saracens, who then held 
held it. Disaster followed disaster, and finally the Turks conquered the 
whole of Greece as well as Central Europe. All the Christians made 
common cause against the Mohammedans, and attempted to drive them out. 
At the battle of Varna, in the year 1446, the combined armies of Christian 
nations were defeated, and Turkey held sway for more than two hundred 
years after this. Then came the Venetian conquest, which crippled the 
power of the Turks for a time and held the Morea. But they lost their 
spirit, and when one hundred thousand Turks came against them they 
yielded the city of Corinth and all the territory, after a short struggle of four 
days. Several attempts were subsequently made to wrest the country from 
the Turks, but all were unsuccessful, and Greece remained in a deplorable 
state until the year 18 15. 

But in all their bitter calamities there were some who had not lost all 
traces of the old Greek character. The merchants who had been successful in 
trade sent their sons to France and Russia to be educated. Here they 
learned of the deeds of their forefathers, and were fired with the 
patriotic spirit. A secret society was formed among these young men, 
called the Hetaria. To this society were joined many of the princes 
and nobles of the Peloponnesus, and they thought that if they could 
show the Christian nations that they were united and determined some 
of these powers would aid them to throw off the Turkish yoke. In i820' 
Ali Pasha, governor of Albania, rebelled and shut himself up in the town of 
Yanina. Here he incited the Greeks to fight on their own account, so the 
revolution began, under the leadership of Prince Ipsilanti, who had served in 
the Russian army. Ipsilanti was defeated and fled, but another leader was 
found in the person of a wild outlaw, named George the Olympian. This 
man was besieged by the Turks in an old convent at Secka, where he held 
out for thirty-six hours, and then blew up the convent with himself and his 
men in it. Many of the Greeks were too proud to join this man in his 
endeavor, because he had no rank among them. 

The next year there was a general uprising among all the Greeks. The 
Turks were driven out of Athens except the Acropolis, which they besieged,, 
but a Turkish army came to the relief of the garrison and raised the siege. 
The revolution went on with varying fortunes, until France, Russia and 
England decided to interfere in their behalf. The worst feature was that the 
Greeks quarreled among themselves. The Turkish fleet in the bay of 
Navarino was totally destroyed b^ the Greeks, and thus the Morea was 
freed from the hated rule in October, 1827. Just one year later the 
Peloponnesus was wrested from them. The allied powers thought it best to 
put a French garrison in the Morea, because the Greeks still quarreled among 
themselves. The Turks were pushed back to the North until all of Greece 
was taken from the Mussulmen. The great powers of Europe now took the 
kingdom of Greece in hand, and chose as the fittest man in Europe to take 



GLANCES AT MODERN GREECE. 45 

charge of its affairs Prince Leopold, who declined to accept the throne. In 
1832 they chose Otho, the second son of the king of Bavaria, then a lad of 
17, to be king of Greece. He was sent with a council to aid him till he was 
of age. In 1843 the Greeks compelled him to send away his council and 
appoint Greek ministers in their stead. 

After a reign of about thirty years Otho resigned, and as he had no 
children the throne was offered to a number of persons before any one would 
accept it. At last, in 1868, the second son of the king of Denmark, George, 
accepted the crown and began his reign, which has continued up to the 
present time. One of the first things that happened in King George's time 
was the murder of three English gentlemen — Mr. Herbert, Mr. Lloyd, and Mr. 
Vyner — who had gone with a party to see the plain of Marathon. A gang 
of robbers came and seized upon them and carried them off to the hills, 
demanding a ransom. Lady Muncaster, who was of the party, was allowed 
to return to Athens with her husband, the robbers intending that the ransom 
should be collected ; but troops were sent out to rescue the prisoners, and in 
rage and disappointment the robbers shot them all three. The robbers were 
captured and put to death, and the young king was bitterly grieved at not 
having been able to prevent these horrors. 

The congress of the powers which met at tlie city of Berlin in 1878 
recommended that the southern portions of Thessaly and Albania be added 
to the kingdom of Greece, but a complication of difficulties arose, growing out 
of the " Eastern question," which has deferred that desirable consummation. 
The latest census of Greece shows a population of one million si.x hundred 
and seventy-nine thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. The legislative 
power of the government is vested in one chamber of deputies consisting of 
one hundred and eighty-seven members, elected by popular suffrage for four 
years. The islands in the .iEgean Sea belonging to modern Greece are 
comprised in two groups. One group is called the Cyclades, a name derived 
from their circling around Delos when that island was made stationary for 
the birth of Diana and Apollo, as told in mythology. The other group is 
called the Sporades, from a word signifying scattered, or sown. Many of this 
latter group, however, are claimed by Turkey. The city of Syra is the 
principal sea-port of the modern kingdom and has become the center of a 
considerable commerce. The regular line of steamers up the Mediterranean 
call at this port. The chief production of this island is wine, large quantities 
of which are exported each year. Tenos, another island, is celebrated for its 
manufactures in marble. Naxos is the most productive and beautiful, as well 
as the largest of the Cyclades, which are mostly high and rocky along the 
coast, and all have the same general characteristics. 

The literature of modern Greece has as yet attained no decided promi- 
nence. Prior to the revolution which resulted in the establishment of the 
present kingdom in 1829, not a single prominent work had been produced by 
a Greek author for hundreds of years. Since that date, however, new life 
has been infused into the department. Dramas, lyrics, love-songs, and a 



46 HISTORY OF GREECE. 

poem in imitation of Lord Byron's Cliildc Harold, have been written by- 
two brothers, Panagiotis and Alexander Soutsos. There is much merit in 
most of their writings. Tliree dramatic writers have attained a foremost 
place in literature : Neroulos, Rangavis and Charmouzis. As a historian, 
Perraevos has produced a valuable and well-written book entitled, Memoirs of 
Different Battles Fought Between the Greeks and Turks from 1820 to 1829. 
But the most excellent work yet produced by any modern Greek author is 
Tricoupis' History of the Greek Revolution. Its excellence consists in the 
reliability and accuracy of its statements and the purity and elegance of its 
style. Many years of good government, national industry and prosperity 
will be required, however, before modern Greece can again acquire that rank 
in the world's literature which the prestige of her name and the renown of 
ancient Greece might lead her to anticipate. 

The language of modern Greece, for the greater part, is that which is 
properly called Neo-Hellenic. This bears a very close resemblance to the 
classic Greek taught in our schools and colleges. Great effort has been made 
in recent years to prune this new Greek of all barbarisms and foreign words, 
so that it has come to be written with such purity that good scholars in the 
ancient Greek can have but little trouble in reading the work of Tricoupis, to 
which we have referred, or even an Athenian newspaper. This author, who 
has done so much to restore the literature of Greece, was born in 1791 and 
died in 1873. He was the friend and comrade of Lord Byron and delivered 
the celebrated funeral oration in the cathedral of Missolonghi a few days 
after the death of the English poet. This was at once translated into all the 
languages of modern Europe. His personal history was connected with all 
the vicissitudes of the nation until 1862, when on account of ill health he 
retired from public life. 

Schools are doing what they can, and the Greeks are very quick-witted, 
and learn easily. They are excellent sailors, clever merchants, and ready 
linguists, and get on and prosper very fast ; but till they learn truth, honesty, 
and mercy, and can clear their country of robbers, it does not seem as if 
anything could go really well with their kingdom, or as if it could make itself 
be respected. Yet we must recollect that the old Eastern Empire, under 
which they were for many centuries, did not teach much uprightness or good 
faith ; and that since that time they have had four hundred years of 
desperate fighting for their homes and their creed with a cruel and oppressive 
enemy, and that they deserve honor for their constancy even to the death. 
Let us hope they will learn all other virtues in time. 





WONDEEFDL MEN Al EVENTS. 



THE LAND OF ITALY. 

WE will next write about the most famous 
nation which has ever risen. There is a 
peninsula to the westward of Greece which 
appears on the map something in the shape of 
a human leg with the toe of the foot extended 
toward Sicily, and terminating in a heel to the east of the Gulf of Taranto. 
The Apennine Mountains stretch like a bone from the Alps southward, and 
bend to the east. This peninsula forms the land of Italy. Around the 
streams which flow from the mountains through the verdant valleys many 
different tribes settled before there is any history to explain the time or 
manner of their coming. It is plain that they were descended from a 
common stock with the Greeks, and spoke a language which sprang from the 
same source as the Greek tongue. This language came to be polished in 
time and took the form of the Latin, so named after the tribe with which 
we are most familiar in history. The river Tiber runs from the Apennines 



48 HISTORY OF ROME. 

to the sea about midway of the western coast of Italy. Here the great 
Roman power grew from small beginnings until it overran the whole 
■world. 

The truth of the founding of this city, called Rome, has been covered 
with so much that is mythical that it cannot be certainly ascertained. We 
know that there were a number of nations living around the several hills 
which form the spurs of the mountain range ; the Etruscans, Sabines and 
Latins were the principal ones. They seem to have dwelt in the fertile 
valleys, which they cultivated, and where they fed their flocks ; but they had 
fortified the hills and made them strong, and within these fortifications they 
fled when attacked by their enemies. The Etruscans built many strong 
walls and drained their cities skillfully. The remains of their works are 
visible to this day. Their monuments have been opened and found to 
contain the tombs of their kings, with curious pottery in red and black from 
which we may learn something of their lives. They spoke a different 
language from what became the Latin, and had another form of religion. 
They thought that there was one great "Soul of the world," and believed in 
rewards and punishments after death. But we know little about them 
except that their kings were called Lucumos, and they once had an extensive 
sway, but lost it before history came to be written. They were called by 
the Romans Tusci, and the name Tuscany remains to the present. The 
Latins and the Sabines were more alike and resembled the Greeks. 

In the southern parts of Italy there were many Greek colonies, and 
these two nations learned much from them. They believed it a multitude of 
■gods, and every house had its own guardian, called Lares, or Penates. These 
were represented under the figures of little dogs lying on the hearth. 
Whenever the master of the house began a meal he poured out a libation 
to the Penates and to his own ancestors. The family pride and social 
ties were strong, and all members of the family had the same name, 
like our surname. The name of the male members ended in 7is and 
that of the female members in a. The men had separate names, but 
the daughters were only numbered. For example, if the family name was 
Appius, the son whose name was Claudius would be known as Appius 
Claudius, the family name coming first. The first daughter would be 
called Appia Una and the second Appia Duo. 

The old Grecian mythology and tales of the heroes were not known to 
the Latins at first, but learned from the Greeks. Each city had its guardian 
god, each stream, fountain and wood its nymph, and there was a god for 
nearly everything in nature. The fields and crops were sacred to Saturn. 
Pomona was the goddess of gardens, and Vertumnus the god of fruits. 
Saturn first taught husbandry in Italy during the golden age when there 
were no slaves, and the Latins had a festival every year in his honor, 
•called Saturnalia, corresponding to our Christmas, when for a week all the 
slaves were allowed to act as if free, and engage in any diversion they wished. 
In our "Stories from Mythology" we have used the Latin names. The 



WONDERFUL MEN AND EVENTS. 49 

Latins regarded their gods as graver, higher beings, who were removed from 
them, and not so fanciful and capricious as the Greeks thought them. 
Indeed they were a harder, graver, tougher, fiercer and more substantial race 
than the Greeks. They were not so intelligent and quick, but a more 
sterling race of men. 

Rome, the name which made- this race well known, is said to signify 
famous, and was at first a mere cluster of houses with forts on the hills to 
defend them. There was a temple to Jupiter, in which he and Juno and 
Minerva were worshiped together on the Capitoline hill. Janus, the two- 
faced god of the gates, had his temple on the Janicular hill. There were 
seven hills in all ; the other five were, the Palatine, the Esquiline, the 
Arventine, the Ccelean and the Quirinal. Those who dwelt in these villages 
were called Quirites, or spearmen, and they made war on their' neighbors. 
After many years they built a wall about the seven hills and enclosed 
them in one cit)-, with open places between them where they had built no 
houses. 

Their history seems to have been written backward, in which the old 
songs and legends were woven to explain the manners and customs that 
were found among them. These tales and songs were worked up into a 
history by one Titus Livius after they had grown to be a powerful people, 
and had learned many Greek notions. It is needful to know these stories 
which used to be believed as true before we come to the established facts of 
the history, so we will commence with the one told by the poet Virgil to the 
Emperor Augustus Csesar. 



THE WANDERINGS OF ^NEAS. 

The city of Troy had been taken and destroyed by the Greeks after a 
siege of ten years. Among the Trojan youth there was one named jEneas, 
whose father was Anchises, a cousin of Priam, and his mother was the 
goddess Venus. When he saw that the city was lost he rushed back to his 
home and brought away his aged father on his back, who held the household 
gods in his hand. He led his little son lulus, and his wife Creusa followed 
on behind ; while all the Trojans who could get their arms together joined 
him. They then made their escape to Mount Ida, but in the confusion 
Creusa became separated from the company and ^neas went back to thi 
city in vain to find her. On account of his care of his father and the Penate. 
he is called pious ^Eneas. 

He built a fleet of ships from the wood on Mount Ida and sailed witl; 
his followers to seek a new home, to which his mother promised to lead him. 
In his journeying around the Mediterranean he met with many adventure- 
and hardships. When he had landed on one of the Strophades, a cluster o' 
islands belonging to the Ionian group, he was one day feasting with his mcr 
on the flesh of some of the many goats which they found there. T... 
4 



so HISTORY OF ROME. 

horrid Harpies came upon them while eating their food and snatched it 
away with their hooked hands, and what they could not use they defiled. 
These harpies had the faces of women with a horrid beak and feathers of 
brass. The Trojans drove them away but could not harm them, for the 
arrows glanced off their feathers. All flew away but one, who sat on a high 
rock and told the Trojans that they should be tossed about on the sea until 
they came to Italy, and then not be able to buikl their city until they had 
been compelled to eat their dishes for food, as a punishment for molesting 
the harpies. From thence they sailed to the coast of Epirus, where .^neas 
found his cousin Helenus, son of Priam, reigning over a little Troy, and 
married to Andromache, the sister of Hector. Helenus was a prophet who 
gave his cousin much good advice, and told him how he might know the 
place where the gods intended that he should build his city. He told /Eneas 
when he came to Italy and found a sow lying under the holly-trees by the 
side of a river, surrounded with her litter of thirty pigs, there to found his 
city. Following his advice the pious chieftain coasted to the south of 
Sicily, and thereby avoided the dangerous strait between Scylla and 
Charybdis. As they were passing around the coast just below Mount .(Etna 
they saw on the shore an unfortunate man, who came running down to the 
beach and begged to be taken on board. He was a Greek who had been 
left behind when Ulysses had escaped from the one-eyed Cyclop, Polyphe- 
mus, and had made his way to the forest, where he had lived ever since. 
The Trojans took him on board just as the giant came down from the 
mountain, with a pine tree for a staff, to wash the hollow of his lost eye in 
the sea water. 

They rowed away in great terror. Soon after this Anchiscs died, and 
while his son was mourning for him, Juno, who hated the Trojans, went to 
the cave of yEolus, and induced him to let the winds loose on the sea. There 
came a fearful tempest, which drove the Trojan fleet to the south and 
destroyed one of their ships , but they came into a beautiful bay just as the 
storm went down. Tall cliffs with overhanging woods were on either side, 
and within the bay was a fountain of clear water. /Eneas with his weary 
companions landed, and while they were resting he went in search of food. 
A stag was slain, and furnished a good meal for the hungry wanderers. 
Then ^-Eneas, with a trusty companion, went out to explore the country. 
Coming out of the forest they were surprised to see on the plain before them 
a greal multitude of people building a city, erecting walls, houses and temples. 
The two entered one of these temples, and to their utter surprise they found 
the walls sculptured with all the scenes of the siege of Troy, with so perfect 
representations of their friends as to cause them to shed tears. 

While they were gazing upon these pictures a beautiful queen, attended 
by her troop of maidens, came into the temple. She was Dido, the wife of 
Sichseus, who had been king of Tyre until he was slain by his brother 
Pygmalion. The murderer of the king intended to marry the queen and 
seize the kingdom, but she fled, with a band of faithful Tyreans, taking all her 



WONDERFUL MEN AND EVENTS. 51 

husband's treasure, and came to the northern coast of Africa. Here she begged 
of the chief of the country as much land as she could surround with a bull's 
hide. He readily gave it to her, but the crafty woman cut the hide into 
narrow strips and enclosed land enough to build the city of Carthage. Dido 
accosted ^-Eneas most kindly and recei\'ed all his men into her city, hoping to 
keep them forev-er and induce ^'Eneas to become her husband. In a great 
feast given in the honor of the Trojans their leader recounted all the events 
of the destruction of Troy and the wanderings of himself and his companions. 
,'\fter this the queen did all in her power to induce yEneas to join in a common 
city, and he was so contented and happy that he forgot all the plans and 
prophecies he had heard for his future. Jupiter sent his messenger, Mercury, 
to warn him and arouse his zeal to .fulfill his great destiny. He secretly made 
arrangements for his departure, and Dido was so unhappy that %he caused a 
funeral pile to be built, and lying upon it stabbed herself with the sword that 
j^ineas had given her. The Trojans saw the smoke and flame of the funeral 
pile without knowing the cause of it. 

After a time yEneas arrived at a place in Italy called Cum;e. One of the 
sybils dwelt here. They were remarkable virgins, whom Apollo had endowed 
with great wisdom. The Trojan leader went to this Cumasan sybil to consult 
her about the future, and she told him that he must go to the realm of Pluto 
in the under world to learn his fate. He was at first obliged to go to a forest 
and obtain a certain golden bough, which he was to take in his hand when he 
went to the land of Pluto. He sought long and faithfully, until at last two 
doves, the birds of his mother, Venus, went fl}'ing before him to show him 
where he could find the tree with the golden bough. It was growing on a 
tree like mistletoe. With this to protect him, after he had offered a rich 
sacrifice to the gods, he went, with the sybil as a guide, to a gloomy cave on 
the banks of Lake Avernus and came to the river Styx. Here he found the 
shades of all those who had remained unburied flitting arounci the shore, in 
vain begging that Charon would take them over the river. The sybil induced 
this boatman to take the hero across, but the boat strained and creaked under 
the weight of its unusual load of human flesh and bones. 

They came to where the three-headed dog, Cerberus, stood on guard. 
The sybil threw him a cake made of honey and some stupefying drug, and he 
lay asleep while JEneas passed on. Here he found a myrtle grove, where 
were collected all the spirits of those who had died for love. To his surprise 
our hero saw the ghost of poor Dido, whom he had forsaken at Carthage. 
A little further on he found the souls of the old Trojan warriors whom he had 
known, and there he learned much of the future in converse with his friends. 
He passed by the brazen gates of the abode of the wicked, and came to the 
Elysian fields full of laurel groves and meadows of asphodel. Here he found 
Ins father, Anchises, and with him was allowed to see the souls of all their 
descendants yet unborn, who should rise to great distinction. They are 
described by the poet Virgil, up to the very time of Augustus Csesar, for 
whom Virgil was writing. He tells us that /Eneas came to Italy just as his 



52 HISTORY OF ROME. 

old nurse, Caieta, died, and he named the place Gaeta. After she had been 
buried with funeral rites they found a grove, where they sat down to eat, 
using large cakes, or biscuits, in the place of plates to eat their food upon. 
All at once Ascanius, the little son of /Eneas, cried out, " We are eating our 
very tables," and then he remembered the harsh prophecy of the Harpies, and 
thus he knew that his journeying was over. 

After this the Trojans found on the bank of a river, in a beautiful spot, 
the sow and her litter of thirty pigs, as had been prophesied by Helenus. 
Then they knew that this was the place to build their city. 

THE BUILDING OF ROME. 

Latinus, the king of the country, at first made friends with ^Eneas and 
promised to give him his daughter Lavinia in marriage, but there was an 
Italian prince, named Turnus, who had been a former suitor of the maiden. 
He made war on the Trojans, and after much hard fighting he was slain. On 
the spot where the sign had been seen they built the city of Alba Longa, 
where /Eneas and his wife, Lavinia, reigned in peace and contentment until he 
died. His descendants through the two lines of his sons, Ascanius, or lulus, 
and ^Eneas Silvius, reigned after him for fifteen generations. Amulius was 
the last of the fifteen. He took the throne from his brother Numitor, whose 
daughter, Rhea Silvia, was a vestal virgin. These virgins guarded the sacred 
fire of Vesta and were not allowed to marry on pain of death. The people 
were very angry when she became the mother of twin sons, and claimed that 
the god Mars was her husband. This claim did not prevent her from being 
buried alive, and the two boys were put into a trough and left to float on the 
Tiber and perish. 

The Tiber had overflown its banks and the trough floated upon the dry 
land, and when the waters subsided a she wolf came down from the hills and 
fondled the babes, and fed them as if they were her own cubs. At last they 
were found by a shepherd, who took them home to his wife. She named them 
Romulus and Remus, and they were brought up as her own children, to 
become shepherds. After the boys had become men, at one time there arose 
a dispute between the shepherds of Amulius and Numitor which resulted in 
a severe fight. In this contest Romulus and Remus did such brave exploits 
that they were brought to Numitor. Upon inquiry, the deposed king learned 
from their foster father the story of their being found by him, and seeing the 
trough in which they had laid, and which the shepherd had preserved, he 
knew that they were his grandsons. On finding out the fact of their birth, 
they collected an army of shepherds and others and drove out Amulius, and 
restored the throne to their grandfather, Numitor. 

Then they concluded to build a city for themselves on one of the seven 
low hills beneath which flowed the yellow Tiber, but they could not decide 
upon which hill to build. Remus wished to locate on the Aventine hill, and 
Romulus on the Palatine. They agreed to watch the omen of the flight of 



WONDERFUL MEN AND EVENTS. S3 

birds, as their grandfather had advised them. Remus was the first to see a 
flock of six vultures flying over, but Romulus saw twelve, and for this reason 
the Palatine hill was chosen for the city and Romulus was made king. His 
brother was angry, and when the mud wall which was to enclose the city was 
being raised he leaped over it in derision. Romulus in his wrath slew him, 
saying, "So perish all who leap over the wall of my city . '* The city was 
built and called Rome. From this the Romans dated their existence as a 
nation and marked the date of any year " A.U.C.," which stand for the Latin 
words anno urbis conditio, from the year of building the city. The date of 
this is fixed at 773 B.C. 

The youth who joined Romulus could not many any of the daughters of 
the nations around them, for they regarded these upstarts as robbers. The 
.Sabines lived nearest the Romans, and they looked with eager eyes upon the 
Sabine ladies, till at last Numitor advised Romulus to hold a great feast in 
honor of the god Neptune, with many games and dances. All the people of 
the country around came to this festival, and when it was at its height each 
of the Roman youths seized a Sabine maiden and carried her to his home. 
Si.x hundred and eighty-three maidens were thus taken to make wives for the 
Romans, and the next day Romulus married them all to his men in the 
fashion which was ever after observed in Rome. Romulus took the maiden 
Hersilia to be his own wife. The Sabines, under their king Tatius, under- 
took to get their daughters back. Romulus drew up his troops in the 
Campus Martins, just beneath the fort on the Saturnian hill, and marched 
against the Sabines. While he was gone, Tarpeia, the daughter of the 
governor of the fort, promised to admit the Sabines if they would gi\'e her 
what they wore on their left arms, meaning their bracelets, but they hated 
her treason while they were willing to profit by it. No sooner were they 
inside the gates than they pelted her with their shields and slew her. The 
hill where she died has ever since been called the Tarpeian rock, and became 
the execution place for criminals. 

When Romulus with his army attempted to retake the citadel and the 
battle was going against him, all the Sabine women, who had now been Roman 
wives for more than a year, came out with their infants in their arms and 
their hair flying, and besought their husbands and fathers not to kill each 
other. This led to a peace, and the Sabines and Romans became one nation, 
over which Romulus and Tatius ruled together. Tatius dwelt on the 
Tarpeian rock and Romulus on the Palatine, with a \-alley between them 
called the Forum. This was the market-place where they met for trade, and 
also the spot v;here the people gathered jn public meetings. Tatius was 
killed five years after this and Romulus reigned alone, until he was caught 
up in a thunder storm and became a god, whom the Romans worshiped under 
t'.ie title of Ouirinus. Some said that Romulus had been caught up by Mars, 
and others claimed that he had been murdered. It matters little which waj- 
we tell it for it is no more true than the story of yEneas, but the Romans 
believed both, and told the two stories as real history. The chief families of 



54 ^ HISTORY OF ROME. 

Rome were called Querites, from the name under which Romulus was 
worshiped, and the she wolf and twins were favorite badges of the empire. 
Many of the names given to the places in this story are still retained about 
Rome. There was such a king as Romulus, and he was regarded by the 
Romans as the founder of their city. 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION. 

There was an understanding between the Sabines and the Romans 
that the king should come in turn from each nation. Therefore when 
Romulus disappeared a Sabine, Numa Pompilius by name, was chosen king. 
He had married a daughter of Tatius, who was called Tatia, but she had 
died leaving one daughter. After his wife died Numa went about from one 
fountain and grove to another, making sacrifices to the gods and goddesses in 
each place. The people loved him for his gentle character and great wisdom. 
In a grove not far from Rome there was a fountain presided over by tl.c 
nymph Egeria. Numa came here to consult the goddess, and he received 
from her much instruction in regard to government which made his reign 
peaceful and prosperous. The people doubted if Egeria was really a goddess, 
and to convince them, once when there were a number of guests at the house 
of the pious king, suddenly the dishes of earthen ware were changed to gold 
before their eyes and filled ^vith daint\' food. She also gave her patron a 
brazen shield, which would keep Rome safe as long as it was preserved in the 
city. Numa had eleven other shields made like it and hung them all in the 
temple of Mars, and every j-ear a number of men dedicated to this office 
carried them through the streets of the city with songs and dances. All 
peaceful and religious customs were said to have sprung from this king, just 
as warlike ones had been instituted by Romulus. 

Numa is said to have fixed the calendar and given the names to the 
months. He built an altar to Fides, or Faith, and taught his people to keep 
their pledges to each other and to other nations. He also dedicated the 
bounds of each estate to the Dii Termini, or the gods of the Landmark, in 
whose honor he established a yearly festival. He induced Jupiter to do away 
with human sacrifices. In fact, all the better and humanizing things in the 
Roman system are said to have come from Numa. There was a god of the 
gates, or Janus, who had a temple on the Janicular hill. He had two faces 
looking either way, and held the keys of the city. When there was any war 
in the land the temple of this god was open, but if there was peace it was 
closed. The reign of Numa was counted the first of the three times in 
which the temple was shut during the long time of Roman history. Num i 
reigned for thirty-eight years and then gradually faded away, and was placed 
in a stone coffin to be buried with all the books he had written, as he had 
requested. The nymph Egeria wept for him until she became a fountain, 
and so ended the golden age of Rome. 



WONDERFUL MEN AND EVENTS. 55 

The king who came after Numa was of Roman descent, Tullus by name. 
He was a warlike man and fought witla the Albans. At length the two cities 
were joined together and became one, as the Sabines and Romans had 
become. There arose a fierce dispute as to which city should be chief, and 
to decide it a combat was fought between three champions on each side. 
Now there were in each city three brothers born at one birth, and the 
mothers of each family were sisters. Both sets were of the same age. These 
six were to fight together and thus decide the fate of the city to which each 
belonged. Horatius was the name of the Roman family and Curiatius the 
name of the Alban. Two of the Roman brothers were slain and all three of 
the Albans were wounded, while the last Horatius was unharmed. He turned 
to run and his cousins followed him until they became separated on account 
of their wounds. Horatius turned and slew the first one who came up 
and then the next. When the last came up to him Horatius said, "To the 
glory of Rome I sacrifice thee also," and slew him. 

When the Alban king saw that the contest was thus decided against him 
he turned to Tullus Hostilius, and asked him what his commands were. " Only 
to have the Alban youths ready when I sliall need them," said the Roman 
king. Horatius came in triumph to the city crowned as a victor. But when 
his sister me-t him she was so overcome with the news of the death of the Cu- 
riatii, to one of whom she had been betrothed, that she burst into tears. Her 
brother struck her dead in his wrath, saying, " So perish every Roman who 
mourns the death of an enemy of his country." Horatius was brought before 
the king for this murder and was sentenced to death. The entreaty of the 
people to spare their champion resulted in the king's sparing his life, but he 
was sent under the yoke, which was made of two spears set up like a door- 
way, and this was regarded as a great disgrace. 

Tullus Hostilius was harsh and presuming, and although he gained many 
victories over his neighbors he offended the gods, and Jupiter sent a bolt of 
lightning to destroy him and all his family. The people then chose Ancus 
Martius, the son of Numa's daughter, who ruled in the same spirit as his grand- 
father. He built the first bridge across the Tiber and named it the Subli- 
cian. During his reign a Corinthian family who had settled in an Etruscan 
town called Tarquinii came from thence to Rome. Tarquin, as the family 
name was now known, was the first man to teach writing in Italy, and he 
introduced the Greek letter made in a more simple form, which are the same as 
the Roman letters we now use. His eldest son, finding that his foreign birth 
prevented him from rising to any honor in Etruria, came to Rome with 
his wife, Tanaquil, and his little son Lucius Tarquinius. As they were 
entering the city an eagle flew down and snatched off the cap of little 
Tarquin and then put it back again. From this omen his mother thought 
that he would become a great kincf. 

When King Tullus died his son was too young to come to the throne, and 
the people chose the man Lucius Tarquinius to be their king. He was the 
first one to wear a purple robe and a golden crown in Rome. He made a 



56 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



circus in the valley between the Palatine and the Aventine, and built a stone 
wall about the city instead of the old mud wall. There was a slave girl in 
his family who was offering cakes to the household god, Lar, when he 
appeared before her in bodily form. She was told that the god wished to 
make her his bride, and thereupon she dressed herself in bridal costume and 
became his wife. 

From this marriage sprang a boy whom they called Servius Tullus. After 
Tarquin had been killed this boy was called to the throne. He was married 
to one of the Tarquins. 

n. 

THE EMLSION OE THE TAEQDINS. 

IeRVIUS tullus made laws for the Romans and 
'"^ arranged their civil affairs, as Romulus had established the- 
military, and Numa had regulated the religious matters for 
the people. The Romans were all in great clans or fami- 
lies, all those with one name, and these were classed in 
tribes. These who could trace their line from the old 
Trojan, Latin and Sabine families were styled patricians, 
name was derived from pater, a father, because they 
the fathers of the nation. The others were known as 
plebeians, from plcbs, the people. The senate or council was 
composed of the patricians, all of whom rode on horseback, but 
the plebeians fought on foot. The soldiers were armed with 
spears, round shields and pointed swords. Tullus fixed how 
many could be called for war from each tribe and established 
the laws in relation to debt, and many other civil matters. 

The Sabines and Romans were constantly contending for 
the mastery, but the Romans obtained control by one of their 
characteristic tricks. The two sons of Servius were married to their cousins, 
the young Tarnuins. Tullia was a fierce woman, but her husband, Aruns Tar- 
quin, was gentle and quiet. While the mild and lovely Tullia was wedded to 
the proud and imperious Lucius Tarquin, Tullia, the proud daughter, tried to 
induce her husband to seize the throne, but he would not. So she agreed 
with Lucius that she would kill her husband if he would slay his wife and 
marry her. The plot was carried out, and when old Servius saw what a wicked 
pair they were he proposed that the senate should change the form of 
government, and appoint two consuls in the place of a king. This so 
incensed Lucius that he stood upon the throne to address the patricians, who 
hated Servius because he was the friend of the plebeians. As he was telling 
them that this proposition of the king would be the ruin of their greatness, 
Servius stood in the doorway and ordered him to come down. Tarquin 




THE EXPULSION OF THE TAR';:UIXS. 57 

sprang upon him and threw him down the stairs and killed liim. The wicked 
Tullia was driving along in the street and her horses sprang back at the sight 
of the dead body. She then asked whose it was. and being told that it was 
her father," Drive on," she said, and this heartless deed caused the street to be 
called " Sceleratus," or the wicked. The plebeians mourned for Servius, but 
the patricians made the cruel Tarquin king. He was harsh and tyrannical and 
was called Tarquinius Superbus, or Tarquin the Proud. He captured the 
city of Gabii by treachery. 

His son, Sextus Tarquinius, fled to Gabii, where he complained of ill- 
usage and showed the marks of scourging. The Gabians believed him and 
trusted him so much that they gave him the command of the city. Sextus 
caused the chief men to be exiled or put to death, at the bidding of his father. 
Then the city fell an easy prey to the Romans. The two sons of Tarquin 
were sent to consult the Delphic oracle for their father. The}- had witla them 
their cousin, Lucius Junius, who was called Brutus, the fool, for that is the 
meaning of the word. His foolishness was put on because he feared the 
jealousy of his cousins. After they had performed their errand, the brothers 
asked who should rule Rome after their father. The reply was, " He who 
shall first kiss his mother after his return." They agreed to keep this secret 
from their elder brother, Sextus, who was not with them. When they came 
to Rome both rushed to the women's rooms to find their mother, but Brutus 
fell on the ground and kissed the earth, for he guessed the meaning of the 
oracle. 

He was still thought a fool, but he patiently waited his time. Some 
time after this some of the patricians in the arm}' which was besieging Ardea 
v/cre disputing who had the best wife, and to decide the question they agreed 
to ride home at night and see what their wives were doing. The}- came and 
looked in at the windows of their homes, and saw some idling away their 
time, some scolding, some dressing and som.e asleep. But at Collatia, tlie 
farm belonging to one of the Tarquin famil}-, the}' found the beautiful 
wife of Collatinus spinning the wool of her flocks. All agreed that she was 
the best. Sextus Tarquinius wanted to steal her away, and went secretly 
to induce her to leave her lord, but when she \\-ould not li:-ten to him he 
abused her shamefully. The next morning she sent for her father and her 
husband and told them all her trouble, and then plunged a dagger into her 
heart and died before their e}'es. Lucius Brutus had gone to Collatia, and 
while the young husband stood horror-stricken he called on th.em to avenge 
the crime. Then snatching the dagger from the body of Lucretia he 
galloped to Rome and collected all the people in the Forum. He held up 
the bloody dagger and asked them if the\' would an}- longer endure such 
tyranny. They rose as one man and chose Brutus and Collatinus to be their 
consuls; then they shut the gates of the city and would not open them to 
the Tarquins. Thus ended the kingdom of Rome b}' the expulsion of the 
Tarquins. 



= 8 HISTORY OF ROME. 



THE END OF THE TAROUIN FAMILY. 

Tarquin fled to Etruria and tried by plotting to get back to Rome. The 
two young sons of Brutus were drawn into the plot and were discovered. 
Their father asked them what they had to say in defense, but they only wept. 
The senators and the other consul said, " Banish them, banish them ! " but 
Brutus said they must be put to death. The whole senate were shocked to 
hear him judge his sons so harshly^ Collatinus wanted to put off the 
sentence, hoping that his colleague would relent and spare his sons, but 
Brutus said, if the other consul did not join in the sentence he had already- 
executed them himself by his right as a father, and would leave the rest to 
the voice of the people. The Romans applauded Brutus, but thought that 
the consul Collatinus was weak and sentenced him to be banished. 

Tarquin advanced to the very walls of Rome, cut the growing corn in the 
Campus Martins and threw it into the river, where it caught in a heap, around 
which an island was in time formed. Lars Porsena, the Etruscan king, came 
with an army to help Tarquin and restore him to the throne. He advanced to 
the Janicular gate and drove the Romans across the bridge. They placed 
three men to guard the further end until they could destroy it and prevent 
Porsena's army from crossing. Three men against a whole army, but they 
defended it bra\'ely until, the weapons of two of them, Lartius and Her- 
menius, were broken, and the third one, Horatius, ordered them to flee back 
over the tottering timbers of the ruined bridge and save themselves while it 
would bear their weight. He fought on till the bridge fell and he was 
wounded in the thigh. Then he sprang into the river and swam across to his 
friends. You can find the beautiful poem describing this event which was 
written bj' Lord Macaulay in many of the reading books used in the 
common schools. The Romans raised a monument to his honor, and 
bestowed large gifts upon him. 

Porsena blockaded the city and attempted to starve them out. When 
they were nearly famished he sent word to them if they^ would receive their old 
masters he would raise the siege, but they sent back answer that hunger was 
better than slavery^ and held firm. A young Roman went to the camp of 
Porsena to attempt to kill him and thus relieve the city, but he slew a richly 
dressed councilor by mistake. He w^as then brought to the Etruscan king to 
be judged, and said that his name was Caius Mucius, and he was ready to do 
and dare anything for Rome. They threatened to put him to torture, and to 
show his contempt for pain he thrust his hand into the burning coals on a 
brazier near by and allowed it to burn off without flinching, at the same time 
bidding Porsena see what a Roman thought of suffeiing. Porsena was struck 
with his daring, and gave him his freedom and even his dagger. Then he 
said that there were three hundred Roman youths who had sworn to take the 
life of the Etruscan king unless he left Rome to herself. Porsena believed 
this lie, which was told for the good of Rome, and began at once to make 



THE FABLE OF MENENIUS AGRIPPA. 



59 



peace, and for this purpose a truce was proclaimed. This truce was violated 
b\- the Tarquins, which so enraged Porsena that he gave up their cause and 
left Rome to herself. 

There was one more attempt to restore Tartjuin, in which the Latins 
joined against the Romans. The decisive battle was fought near Lake 
Regulus. Aulus Posthumius was commander, and Rlarcus Valerius was 
general of the Roman cavalry. He had vowed to erect a temple to Castor and 
Pollux if the Romans gained the victory. It was a severe contest, but the two 
brothers. Castor and Pollu.x, appeared on horseback and helped the Romans. 
Titus Tarquinius and the Latin army were completely broken up and routed. 
Two noble youths rode into the Forum and told the people that same night 
of the great victory, and when the messenger sent by all speed from Posthu- 
mius .came the next day the citizens of Rome had no doubt that the two gods 
had appeared to them the night before. Tarquin never made another attempt 
to return to Rome, but died in exile at Cumse. This ends the legendaiy 
historj' of Rome, and after this we have a solid basis of fact upon which to 
build the stories that follow. 

m 

TEE FABLE OF lENElOS AGBIPFA. 




E come down to the year 494 B.C., when we begin to 
find something like well authenticated history. From 
]|^^^ what we learn of this time we are sure that the 
,j.^ Romans had had kings which they had driven out_ 
and many of the current stories of their ancestors had 
some foundation in fact. They had a well organized 
system of government, religious observances, mili- 
tary code and civil laws. It will be necessary 
to explain these briefly. 

The people of Rome were in two great classes, as we have said, 
the nobles, or patricians, and the commons, or plebeians. The patri- 
cians had a council or senate and their whole assembly was called 
comitia. Out of the rich patricians a body of knights was formed, 
although all of them rode on horseback. The plebeians in Rome 
were divided into six quarters, and each quarter into six tribes; over 
each tribe was a tribune to watch over and lead it to battle. There 
was another division of all the people made once in five years. This was on 
the basis of their wealth, by which they were divided off into centuries or 
hundreds and had votes in questions of peace and war, by persons whom 
they should elect to cast them. This was called the comitia, in which the 
patrician centuries had the most power as they were the most numerous. 
There were two consuls who took the place of kings for the time being, but 




6o HISTORY OF ROME. 

wore no crowns. Under them were two prjetors, or judges, two questors, who 
attended to public meetings, and two censors, who regulated the registration 
and numbering of the whole people. The army was under the joint command 
of the consuls, but when the necessity of the case required it one single leader 
was chosen and then he was called dictator. All the priests were patricians 
and were under a chief termed Pontifex Maximus. 

The Romans paid great attention to their religion and had many temples, 
altars and shrines, which required a large number of priests. The Roman city 
dress was a white woolen garment with a purple border, wrapped around the 
body so as to leave one arm bare. Onl)'" a free born Roman might wear it, 
and he never must go to any public business without it. The persons seeking 
any office wore this toga entirely white, and were therefore called candidates, 
from candidiis, white. The consuls wore purple togas with embroidered edges, 
and all senators and persons who had ever been magistrates wore theirs with 
a broader purple border. The boy wore a short tunic, and a hollow ball, called 
a bulla, hung from his neck; v,?hen he was seventeen years old a great feast 
was made to the household gods, and then his bulla was taken off and the 
toga put on. He then had the choice of a prsenomen, or first name chosen 
out of fifteen from which he might select. After this he was liable to be 
called out to fight. A certain number were called by the tribune from each 
tribe. These were divided into centuries and a centurion appointed over each. 
Si.x thousand men constituted a legion, from lego, to choose. The standard 
of the legion was a bar across the top of a spear, on which were the letters S. 
P. Q. R., which stand for the words scuatiis popnlus que Romaniis, the Roman 
senate and people. Beneath this was a purple flag and some device above, 
like an eagle, the wolf and twins, or some other image dear to Rome. The 
legions marched on foot, but troops of knights and patrician horsemen were 
attached to each legion. 

The Romans all came to the city to worship. The women \\-ere good 
and noble and the highest praise they sought was " douiuiii inaiisit, lanain 
fecit " — she stayed at home and spun wool. The father was absolute in his 
family and his authority was exercised even over his grown up sons. The 
Romans were brave and obedient to their fathers, their ofificers, magistrates, 
and, as they thought, to their gods. There was a long struggle between the 
two Roman orders, the patricians and the plebeians, which continued for many 
years. The latter were poor, and to improve their lands were obliged to hire 
money of the patricians at high rates of interest. 

The Roman law was hard on the poor debtor and his lands could be taken 
from him and he sent into prison. When Appius Claudius and Servilius v/ere 
consuls there was one of these debtors in prison. He had been famous for 
bravery as a centurion, and was highly esteemed by all the people. He 
escaped from his prison and ran into the Forum, clad in rags and having 
chains on his hands and feet. He aroused the people by showing his wrongs, 
and asking if this was the right usage for a man who had committed no 
crime. One of the consuls, Appius Claudius, was a harsh, cruel man, and so 



THE FABLE OF MENENIUS AGRIPPA. 6i 

were all his family ; this also angered all the people. At this time the Vol- 
sciaiis, a warlike tribe, broke into the Roman lands and there was a call to 
arms, but the plebeians refused to move until their wrongs had been righted. 
But the other consul promised if they would march out to meet the enemy a 
law should be passed against imprisonment, or the selling of children for debt. 
Then they assembled, marched against the Volscians and defeated them, 
taking great spoil. Servilius gave all the booty to his troops, but the senate 
would not keep his promise, and even appointed a dictator to keep the 
plebeians down after the danger from the foreign enemy was averted. 

The plebeians thereupon collected outside the walls of Rome in a strong 
band and were about to make ^var on the patricians. The wise old man, 
Menenius Agrippa, was sent out to pacify them. He told them this fable. 
Once upon a time all the limbs of a man's body became disgusted because 
they were forced to wait upon the bell)'. The feet and legs had carried it 
around, the arms and hands worked for it and brought it food, which the 
mouth ate for it, and so on. They concluded that it was too hard to toil for 
it, and therefore resolved to do nothing more to clothe or feed it. After a 
little while they all began to grow weak and starve, and came to the conclu- 
sion that it was better to toil for this inactive belly rather than all starve 
together. Agrippa told them that all ranks and conditions of society depended 
upon one another and could not exist without each other, for unless they 
worked in harmony they would all perish together. He informed them th;;t 
although the senate had not changed the law in regard to debt they had 
passed a law for the benefit of the plebeians, by which they would have two 
tribunes in time of peace as well as in war. These tribunes were to be of 
their own number and elected by them. No one could harm a tribune during 
his term of ofifice on the penalty of being accursed and forfeiting his 
property. They could prevent the passing of any obnoxious law by saying, 
Vc/o — I forbid. They were to be called tribunes of the people, in distinction 
from the military tribunes who commanded the legions. The whole matter 
was thus settled on the Mons Sacer, and these new laws were therefore called 
/(•gcs sacraria;, or sacred laws. Here they built an altar to Thundering Jupi- 
ter to consecrate the peace thus established ; and in gratitude for the great 
service rendered by Agrippa he was held in honor during life and at his death 
had a public funeral. 

Many times after this the Romans pro\'ed the truth of Agrippa's fable. 
The Roman land — agri, or acre, as it was called in Latin — had at first been 
divided equally among all, so it was said, while the State held the title to it. 
As the years passed by some persons came into possession of more of it than 
others, until those of spendthrift or unfortunate families were without anj'. 
Then there was a demand that, as the land belonged to the State, it should 
be taken back and divided over again, but the patricians regarded the 
land which they had held so long as their own, and would not consent to 
the plan. Upon this issue arose the long contest over the agrarian laws, as 
they were called. Spurius Cassius, who had been three times consul, did all 



^- HISTORY OF ROME. 

he could to have these laws passed, but though he succeeded in ^ettin- the 
laws passed he could not enforce them. The patricians hated him, for'thev 
said he was trymg to gain the good will of the common people to have them 
choose him kmg. This caused the plebeians to regard him as a traitor to their 
interests, and he was condemned to death by the assembly of the whole 
people. After his death the people saw their mistake and mourned for him 
as a friend. In the consulship of Ka:so Fabius the people saw that there wa'= 
no hope of getting the laws of Cassius enforced. The plebeians would not 
fight in the next war for fear that their consul would gain the honor. 

The members of the i<abian family were regarded as such strong defend- 
ers of the patricians that they were elected to the consulship each year for 
seven years. But they came to see that the plebeians had some rights or that 
they would gain by taking sides with them, so when Ka^so was consul the 
next time he used his influence to have the Agrarian laws enforced. The 
senate was furious with him for this course, and when his consulship was over 
he left Rome. But he remained true to his country, and when the Etruscans 
came, who were accustomed to make incursions across the border and ravac^e 
the farms of the Romans, he was ready to defend Rome. There was a watch- 
tower on the banks of the river Cremera, a branch of the Tiber, and Fabius 
offered to guard this with all the men of his name, to the number of six 
hundred and four thousand clients. At first he gained much spoil from the 
Etruscans, but at last they cnme with their whole army, and sending a few 
before the main body who drew out the whole force of Fabius, they fetl upon 
the little band and killed them all. Only one of the name was left, a young 
man who had been left in Rome. The worst part of the matter was that the 
consul, Titus Menenius, was near enough to save the Fabian band with his 
army, but so great was his hatred of Ka;so that he allowed him and his band 
to perish. 

However, the tribune Publilius gained for the plebeians that there should 
be five tribunes instead of two, and made a change in the manner of electing 
them which prevented the patricians from interfering. Also it was decreed 
that to interrupt a tribune in a public speech deserved death. But whenever 
an Appius Claudius was consul he took his revenge, and was cruelly severe, 
especially in the camp, where the consul as general had much more power 
than in Rome. Again the angry plebeians would not fight, but threw down 
their arms in sight of the enemy. Claudius scourged and beheaded : they 
endured grimly and silently, knowing that when he 'returned to Rome and 
his consulate was over their tribunes would call him to account. And so 
they did, and before all the tribes of Rome summoned him to answer for his 
savage treatment of free Roman citizens. He made a violent answer, but he 
saw how it wpuld go with him, and put himself to death to avoid the sentence. 
So were the Romans proving again and again the truth of Agrippa's parable, 
that nothing can go well with body or members unless each will be ready to 
serve the other. 



IV. 




(B.C. 458.) 

^ ■\ LL the time these struggles were going on between the 
patricians and the plebeians at home there were wars 
with the neighboring tribes, the Volscians, the Veians, 
the Latins, and the Etruscans. Every spring the fio-ht- 
ing men went out, attacked their neighbors, then went 
T,*r'?*&--'y.;^ home to reap the harvest, gather the grapes and olives 
V^^ in the autumn, and attend to public business and vote 
^^ - -he magistrates in the winter. In a war against the Volscians, 
¥^ when Cominius was consul, he was besieging a city called Corioli, 
when news came that the men of Antium were marchinc aeainst 
^ him, and in their first attack they were beaten off; but a young 
patrician, Caius Marcius by name, rallied them and took the place 
before the hostile army came up, and then he attacked the army 
^^|i that came and gained the victory over them. For this deed of valor 
he was named Coriolanus and was granted a tenth of all the spoil, 
but he would take only one slave, whom he set free. He was a proud, sh}- 
man and disliked by the tribunes of the people. When he was elected consul 
they would not let him serve. Afterward a shipload of corn came from 
Sicily and there was a fierce quarrel as to its division. The tribunes impeached 
him before the people for \\'ithholding it from them, and by the vote of a 
large number of citizens he was banished from Roman lands. His anger was 
great but quiet. He went without a word away from the Forum to his house, 
where he took leave of his mother, Veturia, his wife, Volumnia, and his little 
children, and then went and placed himself by the hearth of Tullus the Volscian 
chief, in whose army he meant to fight to revenge himself upon his country- 
men. 

Together they advanced upon the Roman territory, and after ravaging 
the country threatened to besiege Rome. Men of rank came out and 
entreated him to give up this wicked and cruel vengeance, and to have pity 
on his friends and native city ; but he answered that the Volscians were now 
his nation, and nothing would move him. At last, however, all the women of 
Rome came forth, headed by his mother, Veturia,' and his wife, Volumnia, 
each with a little child, and Veturia entreated and commanded her son in the 
most touching manner to change his purpose and cease to ruin his country. 



64 HISTORY OF ROME. 

begging him, if he meant to destroy Rome to begin by slaying her. She 
threw herself at his feet as she spol<e, and his hard spirit gave way. "Ah, 
mother," he said, "you have saved Rome and lost your son ! " So it proved, 
for the Volsci killed him. 

Another proud Roman family was the Ouinctian. The father, Lucius 
Ouinctius, was called Cincinnatus, from his long flowing curls of hair. He 
was the ablest man among the Romans, but stern and grave, and his eldest 
son, Kaeso, was charged by the tribunes with a murder and fled the country. 
Soon after there was a great inroad of the ^'Equi and Volscians and the 
Romans found themselves in great danger. They saw no one could save 
them but Cincinnatus, so they met in haste and chose him dictator, though 
he was not present. Messengers were sent to his little farm on the Tiber, 
and there they found him plowing. When they told him their errand, he 
turned to his wife, who was helping him, and said, " Racilia, fetch me my 
toga;" then he washed his face and hands, and was saluted as dictator. A 
boat was ready to take him to Rome, and as he landed he was met by the 
four-and-twenty lictors belonging to the two consuls and escorted to his 
dwelling. In the morning he named as general of the cavalry Lucius Tarqui- 
tius, a brave old patrician who had become too poor even to keep a horse. 
Marching out at the head of all the men who could bear arms he thoroughly 
routed the .^qui, and then resigned his dictatorship at the end of sixteen 
days. Nor would he accept any of the spoil, but went back to his plow, 
his only reward being that his son was recalled from banishment and forgiven. 

The tribune finally succeeded in getting the Aventine hill set off to tl;e 
plebeians, and they had another champion, called Lucius Sicinius Dentatus, 
who was so brave that he was called the Roman Achilles. He had received 
no less than forty-five wounds in different fights before he was fifty-eight 
years old, and had had fourteen civic crowns. For the Romans gave an oak- 
leaf wreath, which they called a civic crown, to a man who saved the life of a 
fellow-citizen, and a mural crown to him who first scaled the walls of a besieged 
city. And when a consul had gained a great victory, he had what was called 
a triumph. He was drawn in his chariot into the city, his victorious troops 
marching before him with their spears' waving with laurel boughs, a wreath of 
laurel was on his head, his little children sat with him in the chariot, and the 
spoil of the enemy was carried along. All the people decked their houses 
and came forth rejoicing in holiday array, while he proceeded to the capitol 
to sacrifice an ox to Jupiter there. His chief prisoners walked behind his 
car in chains, and at the moment of his sacrifice they were taken to a cell 
below the capitol and there put to death, for the Roman was cruel in his joy. 
Nothing was more desired than such a triumph ; but such was often the 
hatred between the plebeians and the patricians, that sometimes the plebeian 
army would stop short in the middle of a victorious campaign to hinder their 
consul from having a triumph. Even Sicinius is said once to have acted thus, 
and it began to be plain that Rome must fall if it continued to be thus divided 
against itself. 



V. 



THE DECEMVIRS 




(B.C. 450.-B.C. 280.) 

}^HE Romans began to see what mischiefs their quarrels 
had done, and they sent three of their best and wisest 
men to Greece to study the laws of Solon at Athens^ 
and report whether any of them could be put in force 
at Rome. To get the new code of laws which they 
brought home put into working order, it was agreed 
for the time to have no consuls, praetors, nor tribunes, 
ten governors. They were called decemvirs {decern, ten ; 
, a man), and at their head was Lucius Appius Claudius, 
first they governed well, and a very good set of laws was 
in up, which the Romans called the Laws of the Ten 
les ; but Appius soon began to give way to the pride of 
nature, and made himself hated. There was a war with 
the ^qui, in which the Romans were beaten. Old Sicinius 
Dentatus said it was owing to bad management, and, as he 
had been in one hundred and twenty battles, everybod}- 
believed him. Thereupon Appius Claudius sent for him, 
begged for his advice, and asked him to join the army that he might assist 
the commanders. They received him warmly, and, when he advised them tri 
move their camp, asked him to go and choose a place, and sent a guard 
with him of one hundred men. But these were really wretches instructed to 
kill him, and as soon as he was in a rocky pass they set upon him. The 
brave old warrior set his back against a rock and fought so fiercely that h^- 
killed many, and the rest durst not come near him, but climbed up the rock 
and crushed him with stones rolled down on his head. Then they went back 
with a story that they had been attacked by the enemy, which was believed, 
till a party went out to bury the dead, and found there were only Roman 
corpses all lying round the crushed body of Sicinius, and that none were 
stripped of their armor or clothes. So the truth came out. 

This Appius Claudius was once going across the Forum, where he saw a 
school girl named Virginia, the daughter of Virginius, a brave centurion 
absent in the army. She was engaged to marry a young man named Icilius 
as soon as the campaign was over. Appius would gladly have married her 
himself, but there was a patrician law against wedding plebeians, and he 
wickedly determined that he would have her for his slave. There was one 

5 



66 HISTORY OF ROME. [b.c. 450 

of his clients, named Marcus Claudius, whom he paid to get up a story that 
Virginius" wife Numitoria, who was dead, had never had any child at all, but 
had bought a baby of one of his slaves and had deceived her husband with it, 
and thus that poor Virginia was really his slave. As the maiden was reading 
at her school this wretch seized upon her, declaring that she was his property, 
and she was dragged as far as Appius' judgment seat ; but by that time her 
faithful nurse had called the poor girl's uncle, Numitorius, who could answer 
for it that she was really his sister's child. But Appius would not listen to him, 
and all that he could gain was that judgment should not be given in the 
matter until Virginius should come from camp. Virginius had set out from 
the camp with Iciiius before the messengers of Appius had come with 
orders to stop him. 

The trial came off and, in spite of the evidence to the contrary', Appius 
Claudius decided that Virginia was the slave of his client Marcus. The 
people were indignant, but Claudius frowned upon them and told them that 
he knew of their secret meetings and that there were soldiers in the Capitol 
ready to punish them, so they must stand back and not hinder a master from 
recovering his slave. 

Virginius took his poor daughter in his arms as if to give her a last 
embrace, and drew her close to the stall of a butcher where lay a great 
knife. He wiped her tears, kissed her, and saying, " My own little girl, there 
is no way but this," he snatched up the knife and plunged it into her heart, 
then drawing it out he cried, " By this blood, Appius, I devote thy blood to 
the infernal gods." He could not reach Appius, but the lictors would not 
seize him, and he mounted his horse and galloped back to the army, four 
hundred men following him, and he arrived still holding the knife. Ever}- 
soldier resolved to march back to the city and insisted on the old government 
being restored. The decemvir generals tried to stop them, but they only 
answered, " We are men with swords in our hands." At the same time 
there was such a tumult in the city, that Appius was forced to hide himself 
in his house while Virginia's corpse was carried on a bier through the streets, 
and every one laid garlands, scarfs, and wreaths of their own hair upon it. 
When the troops arrived they and the people joined in demanding that the 
decemvirs be given up to be burnt alive. But they were persuaded to allow 
the nine innocent men to retire and send Appius to prison, where he killed 
himself rather than face the judges. The new laws remained, but the old 
magistrates were restored. In the year 445 B.C. a law was passed allowing 
the two orders to intermarry. 

THE SAMNITE WARS. 

And so the contest between the patricians and plebeians went on for a 
hundred years, the latter gradually gaining their rights till they were 
allowed to have five tribunes and one consul. In the mean time the city of 
Rome had been taken and destroyed by the Gauls, the warlike tribes 



B.C. 280] THE DECEMVIRS. 67 

from the north of Italy. But the Capitoline hill had been held, and 
finally the city was retaken and built anew by the Romans. Many 
noble men had arisen and gained renown by their wisdom and valor. 
The Latins had been overcome, and reduced to much the same condition 
the plebeians had held before attaining any rights. Among the many 
noble deeds that are recorded in this period we will mention only 
one. About the year 360 B.C. there yawned a terrible chasm in the Forum, 
most likely from an earthquake, but nothing seemed to fill it up, and the 
priests and augurs consulted their oracles about it. These made answer that 
it would only close on receiving of what was most precious. Gold and 
jewels were thrown in, but it still seemed bottomless, and at last the augurs 
declared that it was courage that was the most precious thing in Rome. 
Thereupon a patrician youth named Marcus Curtius decked himself in his 
choicest robes, put on his armor, took his shield, sword, and spear, mounted 
iiis horse, and leaped headlong into the gulf, thus giving it the most precious 
of all things, courage and self-devotion. After this, one story says it closed 
itself, another that it became easy to fill it up with earth. 

The Romans thought that such a sacrifice must please the gods and 
bring them success in their battles. 

The Gauls made several incursions into Italy after the sacking of Rome 
and its recovery, but they were never successful, and then there arose a new 
enemy to Rome, about whom we will now write. These were the Samnites, 
a race of Italian blood, who dwelt to the south of the Romans, and whom 
they found to be the hardest foes with whom they had yet fought. The 
war began from an entreaty from the people of Campania to the Romans to 
defend them from the attacks of the Samnites. For the Campanians were 
an idle, languid people, whom the stout men of Samnium could easily 
overcome. The Romans took their part, and Valerius Corvus gained a 
victory at Mount Gaurus ; but the other consul, Cornelius Cossus, fell into 
danger. One of the military tribunes, Publius Dccius Mus, discovered a little 
hill above the enemy's camp, and asked leave to lead a small body of men to 
seize it, since he would thus draw off the Samnites, and while they were 
destroying him the Romans could get out of the valley. He gained the hill, 
and there the Samnites saw him, to their great amazement ; and while they 
were considering whether to attack him, the other Romans were able to 
march out of the valley. Decius found that they did not attack him and he 
rode back at night as quietly as he came, but the Samnites were now between 
him and his friends. Half way through their camp Decius had led his men 
when one of them struck his foot against a shield and awoke the Samnites. 
The Roman band gave a great shout, and in the confusion and darkness 
sr.fcly gained the new camp where their friends had moved. 

In the great Latin war, at the end of which the Latins and the Romans 
became one nation as we have mentioned, Manlius Torquatus and Decius 
Mus, the two greatest heroes of Rome, were consuls. As the Latins and 
Romans were alike in dress, arms, and language, in order to prevent taking 



68 HISTORY OF ROME. [b.c. 450 

friend from foe, strict orders were given that no one should attack a Latin 
without orders, or go out of his rank, on pain of death. A Latin champion 
came out boasting, as the two armies lay beneath Mount Vesuvius. Young 
Manlius, remembering his father's fame, darted out, fought hand to hand 
with the Latin, slew him, and brought home his spoils to his father's feet. 
He had forgotten that his father had only fought after permission was 
given. The elder Manlius received him with stern grief. He had broken 
the law of discipline, and he must die. His head was struck off amid the 
grief and anger of the army. The battle was bravely fought, but it went 
against the Romans at first. Then Decius, recollecting a vision which had 
declared that a consul must devote himself for his country, called on 
Valerius, the Pontifex Maximus, to dedicate him. He took off his armor, 
put on his purple toga, covered his head with a veil, and standing on a 
spear repeated the words of consecration after Valerius, then mounted his 
horse and rode in among the Latins. They at first made way, but then 
closed in and overpowered him ; and thus he devoted himself to his 
country. 

The Romans appear to be fighting for or against the Samnites, as their 
interest might lead them, but all the while their object was to weaken and 
destroy these southern neighbors. In 326 B.C. the Romans were besieging a 
town called Neapolis, or the New City, to distinguish it from the old town 
near at hand, which they called Pal^opolis, or the Old City. The elder city 
held out against the Romans, but was easily overpowered, while the new one 
submitted to Rome ; but these southern people were very shallow and 
fickle, and little to be depended on, as they often changed sides between the 
Romans and Samnites. In the midst of the siege of Palasopolis the year of 
the consulate came to an end, but the senate, while causing two consuls to be 
elected at home, would not recall Publilius Philo from the siege, and 
therefore appointed him proconsul there. This was the beginning of the 
custom of sending the ex-consul as proconsul to command the armies or 
govern the provinces at a distance from home. In 320, the consul falling 
sick, a dictator was appointed, Lucius Papirius Cursor, one of the most stern 
and severe men in Rome. He was obliged to return to Rome for a time, 
and he forbade his lieutenant, Quintus Fabius Rullianus, to venture a battle 
in his absence. But so good an opportunity offered that Fabius attacked 
the enemy, beat them, and killed twenty thousand men. 

Papirius arrived in great anger, and sentenced him to death for his 
disobedience ; but while the lictors were stripping him he contrived to escape 
from their hands among the soldiers, who closed on him, so that he was able 
to get to Rome, where his father called the senate together, and they showed 
themselves so resolved to save his life that Papirius was forced to pardon 
him, though not without reproaching the Romans for having fallen from the 
stern justice of Brutus and Manlius. Two years later the two consuls, Titus 
Veturius and Spurius Posthumius, were marching into Campania, when the 
Samnite commander, Pontius Herennius, sent forth people disguised as 



B.C. 280I 



THE DECEAIVIRS. 



69 



shepherds to entice them into a narrow mountain pass near tlie city of 
Candium, shut in by thick woods, leading into a hollow curved valley, with 
thick brushwood on all sides, and only one way out, which the Samnites 
blocked up with trunks of trees. As soon as the Romans were within this 
place the other end was blocked in the same way, and thus they were all 
closed up at the mercy of their enemies. 

The Roman consuls and their army were forced to pass under the yoke, 
which was a sign of degradation. Their arms and togas were taken away, and 
they passed under a spear set across two others like a doorway, two by two. 

After this a battle was fought, in which Pontius and seven thousand men 
were forced to lay down their arms and pass under the yoke in their turn. 
The struggle between these two fierce nations lasted altogether seventy years, 
and the Romans had many defeats. They had other wars at the same time. 
They never subdued Etruria, and in the battle of Sentinum, fought with the 
Gauls, the consul Decius Mus devoted himself exactly as his father had done 
at Vesuvius, and by his death won the victory. 

The Samnite wars may be considered as ending in 290 B.C. Pyrrhus, the 
king of Epirus, the Greek, came to Italy in 2S0 B.C., as we have learned in the 
history of Greece, and for nine years contended with the Romans. After 
many brave exploits and repeated disasters the steadiness and bravery of the 
Romans conquered, and the Greeks returned home without gaining any 
advantage. This brings us down to the time of the first Punic war. 




YI. 



THE PMC WABS.-GONPEST OF CISALPINE GAE. 




(264 B.C.-201 B.C.) 



E now come to a period in Roman history in which 
they became involved in wars with nations outside of 
Italy. Carthage, the city of Dido, had become ricii 
and very powerful, and when Pyrrhus retired from 
Southern Italy he said, "What an arena we have let 
for Rome and Carthage to fight upon." At lenglii 
the struggle came on thiswise: Messina, the place 
founded long ago by the brave exiles of Messene, when the Spartans 
had conquered their State, had been seized by a troop of Mamertines ; 
and on being threatened by Hiero, king of Syracuse, sent an offer to 
become subjects to the Romans, thus giving them the command 
of the port which secured the entrance of the island. The senate 
had crreat scruples about accepting the offer, but the two consuls and 
all the people could not withstand the temptation, and it was resolved 
to assist the Mamertines. Thus began what was called the first 
Punic war. The difficulty was. however, want of ships. The Romans had 
none of their own, and though they collected a few from their Greek allies 
in Italy it was not in time to prevent some of the Mamertines from surrender- 
ing the citadel to Hanno, the Carthaginian general, who thought himself secure, 
and came down to treat with the Roman tribune Claudius, haughtily bidding 
the Romans no more to try to meddle with the sea, for they should not be 
allowed so much as to wash their hands in it. Claudius, angered at this, 
treacherously laid hands on Hanno, and he agreed to give up the castle on 
beino- set free ; but when he returned to Carthage he was crucified by his 
enrao-ed countrymen. The Romans built one hundred ships after the model 
of the Carthaginian ships they had captured, and trained a band of Italians to 
row them. 

Duillius gained the first naval victory for Rome, and was granted a great 
triumph. The Romans now resolved to carry the war into Africa, and attack 
Carthage. Marcus Attilius Regulus was sent with an army to besiege that 
city, and succeeded in cooping the Carthaginians within the walls ; but the 
senate at Rome recalled one-half their men. Regulus wished much to return, 
as the slaves who tilled his little farm had run away with his plow, and his 
wife was in distress ; but he was so valuable that he could not be recalled, and 
he remained and soon took Tunis. The Carthaginians tried to win their gods" 



B.C. 20I] THE PUNIC WARS. 71 

favor back by offering horrid luunan sacrifices to Moloch and Baal, and then 
hired a Spartan general, named Xanthippus, who defeated the Romans, chiei^y 
by means of the elephants, and made Regulus prisoner. However, the 
Romans, after several disasters in Sicily, gained a great victory near Pan- 
ormus, capturing one hundred elephants, which were brought to Rome to be 
hunted by the people that they might lose their fear of them. The Cartha- 
ginians were weakened enough to desire peace, and they sent Regulus to 
propose it, making him swear to return if he did not succeed. He came to 
the outskirts of the city, but would not enter. He said he was no Roman 
pro-consul, but the slave of Carthage. However, the senate came out to 
hear him, and he gave the message, but added that the Romans ought not to 
accept these terms, but to stand out for much better ones, giving such 
reasons that the whole people were persuaded. He was entreated to remain 
and not meet the angry men of Carthage ; but nothing would persuade him 
to break his v\ord, and he went back to suffer torture and death at the hands 
of the Carthaginians. The Romans were finally victorious, and thus ended the 
first Punic war. 

The Gauls had gained the country to the southward of the Alps, and 
this was known as Cisalpine Gaul, or Gaul on this side of the Alps. The 
Carthaginians had lost the islands on the south of Italy in the first Punic war, 
but had made an incursion into Spain, and planted a new Carthage there, 
which they called Carthagena. Hamilcar, the chief general in command 
there, had four sons, whom he said were lion whelps being bred up against 
Rome. He took them with him to Spain, and at a great sacrifice for the 
success of his arms the youngest and most promising, Hannibal, a boy of nine 
years old, was made to lay his hand on the altar of Baal and take an oath that 
he would always be the enemy of the Romans. Hamilcar was killed in battle, 
but Hannibal grew up to be all that he had hoped, and at twenty-six was in 
command of the army. He threatened the Iberians of Saguntum, who sent 
to ask help from Rome. A message was sent to him to forbid him to disturb 
the ally of Rome ; but he had made up his mind for war, and never even 
asked the senate of Carthage what was to be done, but went on with the siege 
of Saguntum. Rome was busy with a war in Illyria, and could send no help, 
and the Sanguntines held out with the greatest bravery and constancy, month 
after month, till they were all on the point of starvation, then kindled a great 
fire, slew all their wives and children, and let Hannibal win nothing but a pile 
of smoking ruins. 

Again the Romans sent to Carthage to complain, but the senate there had 
made up their minds that war there must be, and that it was a good time 
when Rome had a war in Illyria on her hands, and Cisalpine Gaul hardly 
subdued, and they had such a general as Hannibal, though they did not 
know what a wonderful scheme he had in his mind, so they let him go on. 
He marched his army across the Pyrenees and Alps, and came into Italy in the 
year 219 B.C. He started from the River Elbe with twenty thousand foot 
soldiers and twelve thousand horsemen. He also had thirty-seven elephants. 



72 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



[B.C. 201 



His brother Hasdrubal was left with ten thousand men at the foot of the 
Pyrenees, and with the rest he pushed on to the Alps. Hannibal's passage of the 
Alps was the great wonder of history. With no roads in the trackless snow, 
and fighting his way through Cisalpine Gaul, Hannibal came to Italy. 

This was the beginning of the second Punic war, and waged with great 
fierceness and varying fortune until the year 201 B.C. Many brave Roman 
generals fell, and Hannibal took much spoil. Quintus Fabius Maximus was 
appointed dictator, and he adopted the celebrated Fabian policy of wearing 
out the strength of the enemy instead of waging a decisive battle. But one 
day, when Caius Terentius Varro was in command, he hastened a battle and 
the Romans were defeated. Hannibal wintered in Campania, and sent home 
to Carthage for more troops; but the senate of that city would not give him 
any. 

Young Scipio, meantime, had been sent to Spain, where he gained great 
advantages, winning the friendship of the Iberians, and gaining town after 
town till Mago had but little left but Gades and the extreme south. Scipio 
was one of the noblest of the Romans, brave, pious, and what was more 
unusual, of such sweet and winning temper that it was said of him that 
wherever he went he might have been a king. 

On returning to Rome he showed the senate that the best way to get 
Hannibal out of Italy was to attack Africa. Cautious old Fabius doubted, 
but Scipio was sent to Sicily, where he made an alliance with Massinissa, the 
Moorish king in Africa ; and, obtaining leave to carry out his plan, he was sent 
thither, and so alarmed Carthage that Hannibal was recalled to defend his 
own country, where he had not been since he was a child. A great battle 
took place at Zama between him and Hannibal, in which Scipio was the 
conqueror, and the loss of Carthage was so terrible that the Romans were 
ready to have marched in on her and made her their subject, but Scipio 
persuaded them to be forbearing. Carthage was to pay an immense tribute, 
and swear never to make war on any ally of Rome. And thus ended the 
second Punic war. 




VII. 



CONGESTS IB THE EAST.-THE GBACCHI. 

(179 B.C. -120 B.C.) 

>, CIPIO returned to Rome, had a triumph and was surnamed 
Africanus. After this the Romans began to spread their 
conquest to Greece and Asia. A younger brother of Scipio 
became renowned in the Asiatic wars. Lucius Scipio 
received the surname of Asiaticus, and the two brothers 
returned to Rome ; but they had been too generous and 
merciful to the conquered to suit the grasping spirit that 
began to prevail at Rome, and directly after his triumph 
icius was accused of having taken to himself an undue share 
the spoil. His brother was too indignant at the shameful 
rusation to think of letting him justify himself, but tore up 
accounts in the face of the people. The tribune, Na;vius, 
;reupon spitefully called upon him to give an account of the 
Doil of Carthage taken twenty years before. The onh' reply 
he gave was to exclaim, " This is the day of the victory of 
Zama. Let us give thanks to the gods." No one durst say a 
word more to him or his brother. 
Corinth and Carthage fell into the hands of the Romans the same year, 
179 B.C., but in the last city they gained little but a heap of burning ruins, for 
in their utter desperation the men forged their household implements into 
weapons and fought from street to street, while the women wove their hair 
into bow strings and were as brave as the men. But after all the city fell 
never to regain its former power. 

A man by the name of Gracchus has married a daughter of Scipio 
Africanus, but while he was away in Spain, fighting with the army, he died 
quite young, and Cornelia, his widow, devoted herself to the cause of his 
three children, refusing to be married again, which was very uncommon in a 
Roman lady. When a lady asked her to show her her ornaments, she called 
her two boys, Tiberius and Caius, and their sister, Sempronia, and said, 
" These are my jewels ; " and when she was complimented on being the 
daughter of Africanus, she said that the honor she should care more for was 
to be called "the mother of the Gracchi." It was not, however, one of 
her sons tliat was chosen to carry on their grandfather's name and the 
sacrifices of the Cornelian family. Probably Caius was not born when Scipio 
died, for his choice had been the second son of his sister and of Lucius 
.(Emilius Paulus (son of him who died at Cannae). This child being adopted 




74 HISTORY OF ROME. [B.C. 179 

by his uncle was called Publius Cornelius Scipio ^milianus, and when he 
grew up he was to marry his cousin Sempronia. 

Young Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, the eldest of Cornelia's jewels, 
had been sent to Spain in 137 B.C. As he passed through Etruria he was 
surprised at the dreariness and desolation where once had been fertile farms 
and vine\-ards. The poorer class of Romans lived in the city and these wide 
fields belonged to the rich, who trusted slaves to till them while they were at 
the wars. The laws which had been passed to divide the land were still 
standing but they were disregarded, so that out of four hundred thousand 
citizens there were only two thousand landholders. While Tiberius was 
serving in Spain he decided on his plan. As his family was plebeian he 
could be a tribune of the people, and as soon as he came home he stood and 
was elected. Then he proposed reviving the Licinian law, that nobody should 
have more than five hundred acres, and that the rest should be divided among 
those who had nothing, leaving, however, a larger portion to those who had 
many children. 

There was, of course, a terrible uproar, the populace clamoring for their 
rights, and the rich trying to stop the measure. They bribed one of the 
other tribunes to forbid it ; but there was a fight, in which Tiberius prevailed, 
and he and his young brother Caius, and his father-in-law, Appius Claudius, 
were appointed as triumvirs to see the law carried out. Then the rich men 
followed their old plan of spreading reports among the people that Tiberius 
wanted to make himself a king, and had accepted a crown and purple robe 
from some foreign envoy. When his year of office was coming to an end he 
sought to be elected tribune again, but the patricians said it was against the 
law. There was a great tumult, in the course of which he put his hand to 
his head, either to guard it from a blow or to beckon to his friends. " He 
demands the diadem," shouted his enemies, and there was a great struggle in 
w hich he was killed. But the law had been passed and the people demanded 
that it should be enforced. 

Caius Gracchus was nine years younger than his brother, and was elected 
tribune as soon as he was old enough. He was full of still greater schemes 
than his brother. His mother besought him to be warned by his brother's 
fate, but he was bent on his objects, and carried some of them out. He had 
the Sempronian law reaffirmed, though he could not act on it ; but in the 
mean time he began a regular custom of having corn served out to the poorer 
citizens, and found work for them upon roads and bridges , also he caused the 
State to clothe the soldiers, instead of their doing it at their own expense. 
Another scheme which he first proposed was to make the Italians of the 
countries now one with Roman territory into citizens, with votes like the 
Romans themselves ; but this again angered the patricians, who saw they 
should be swamped by numbers and lose their power. 

He also wanted to found a colony of plebeians on the ruins of Carthage, 
and when his tribuneship was over he went to Africa to see about it ; but 
when he came home the patricians had arranged an attack on him, and he 



B.C. 109] CAIUS MARIUS AND CORNELIUS SULLA. 75 

was insulted by the lictor of the consul Opimius. The patricians collected 
on one side, the poorer sort around Caius on the other, but Caius was over- 
come. He fled with one slave, whom he compelled to slay him that he might 
not fall into the hands of his enemies. Poor Cornelia, heart-broken at her 
loss, retired to a country-house ; but in a few years the feeling turned, great 
love was shown to the memory of the two brothers, statues were set up in 
their honor, and when Cornelia herself died her statue was inscribed with 
the title she had coveted, " The mother of the Gracchi." 

YIII. 

CAIDS MAIS Al COIELIDS SDLLA. 

(B.C. 109-B.C. 78) 



had obt 
> of any 

peasant, who had risen to distinction in the army of 




'f- UGURTHA, the grandson of Massinissa, king of Numidia. 
had obtained the kingdom, although he had the least right 
lllii'ffes* °^ ''■'^y °^ those who claimed it. Caius Marius, a free born 
1 11- Roman peasant, who he 

1f.'l\ Scipio /Emilianus, was sent to fight against Jugurtha. He 
"l^- was married to Julia, a Roman lady of high rank from the 
family of the Caesars, who were said to be descended from 
^neas ; and though Marius was much disliked by the senate, 
he always carried the people with him. When he received the 
province of Numidia, instead of forming his army only of 
Roman citizens, he ofTered to enlist whoever would, and thus 
filled his ranks with all sorts of wild and desperate men. 
Jugurtha maintained a wild war in the deserts of Africa «ith 
Marius, but at last he was betrayed to the Romans by his 
friend Bocchus, another Moorish king, and Lucius Cornelius 
Sulla, Marius' lieutenant, was sent to receive him — a transaction 
\vhich Sulla commemorated on a signet ring which he always wore. Poor 
Jugurtha was kept two years to appear at the triumph, where he walked in 
chains, and then was thrown alive into the dungeon under the Capitol, where 
he took six days to die of cold and hunger. 

Marius was elected consul for the second time, even before he had quite 
come home from Africa, for it was a time of great danger. Two fierce and 
terrible tribes, whom tne Romans called Cinibri and Teutones, had come 
down to Italy from the north, and Marius was called home to fight against 
them. He was elected consul a third and fourth time. A terrible battle 
was fought with the Teutones at Aqus Se.xtia:, where they were all 
destroyed and left unburied. The place is called the Putrid Fields until this 
day. The Cimbri had gone to the eastward and the other counsul, Catulus, 
could not withstand them, so Marius hastened into Italy and met his colleague 



76 HISTORY OF ROME. [109 e.c. 

on the Po retreating from them. The Cimbri demanded hands in Italy for them- 
selves and their allies the Teutones. " The Teutones have all the ground 
they will ever want, on the other side of the Alps," said Marius ; and a 
terrible battle followed, in which the Cimbri were as entirely cut off as their 
allies had been. 

Marius was made consul a sixth time. As a reward to the brave 
soldiers who had fought under him, he made one thousand of them who 
came from the city of Camerinum Roman citizens, and this the patricians 
disliked greatly. His excuse was, " The din of arms drowned the voice of 
the law ; " but the new citizens were provided for by lands in the province 
\\hich the Romans said the Gauls had lost to the Teutones and the}^ had 
reconquered. It was very hard on the Gauls, but that was the last thing a 
Roman cared about. The Italians, however, were all crying out for the rights 
of Romans, and the most far-sighted among the Romans would, like Caius 
Gracchus, have granted them. Marcus Livius Drusus did his best for them ; 
he was a good man, wise and frank-hearted. But he was murdered in the 
streets of Rome; and the people said, " When will Rome see so good and 
true a man again ? " Then arose what is called the social war, and after a 
long struggle, though the consul Lucius Julius Caesar, brother-in-law to 
Marius, gained some victories, the revolt was so widespread that the senate felt 
it wisest, on the first sign of peace, to ofTer citizenship to such Italians as 
would come within sixty days to claim it. Citizenship brought a man under 
Roman law, freed him from taxation, and gave him many advantages and 
openings to a rise in life. But he could only give his vote at Rome, and only 
there receive the distribution of corn, and he further became liable to be 
called out to serve in a legion, so that the benefit was not great after all, 
and few Italians applied for it. 

The chief foe of Marius was almost always his second in command, 
Publius Cornelius Sulla, one of the men of highest family in Rome. He had 
all the high culture and elegant learning that the rough soldier Marius 
despised, spoke and wrote Greek as easily as Latin, and was as well read in 
Greek poetry and philosophy as any Athenian could be; but he was given up 
to all the excesses of luxur}' in w hich the wealthy Romans indulged, and his 
way of life had made him frightful to look at. His face was said to be like a 
mulberry sprinkled with salt, with a terrible pair of blue eyes glaring out of 
it. In 93 he was sent to command against Mithridates, king of Pontus, who 
had become powerful and rich. 

In the midst of the social war this king had caused eighty thousand 
Romans in Asia Minor to be slain, and Sulla was sent to punish him. Marius, 
who had been six times consul, raised a revolt before Sulla had left Italy, and 
he turned back to meet Marius and to rescue his friends with six newly-raised 
legions, and Marius could only just contrive to escape from Rome, where he 
was proclaimed a traitor and a price set on his head. He was now seventy 
years old, but full of spirit. First he escaped to his own farm, whence he 
hoped to reach Ostia, where a ship was waiting for him ; but a party of horse- 



78 B.C.] CAIUS MARIUS AND CORNELIUS SULLA. -j-j 

men were seen coming, and he was hidden in a cart full of beans and driven 
down the coast, where he embarked, meaning to go to Africa ; but adverse 
winds and want of food forced him to land at Circa;um, whence, with a few 
friends, he made liis way along the coast, through woods and rocks, keeping 
up the spirits of his companions by telling them that, when a little boy, he 
robbed an eyrie of seven eaglets, and that a soothsayer had then foretold 
that he would be seven times consul. At last a troop of horse was seen 
coming toward them, and at the same time two ships near the coast. The 
only hope was in swimming out to the nearest ship, and Marius was so heavy 
and old that this was done with great difficult}'. Even then the ships were so 
near the shore that the pursuers could command the crew to throw Marius 
out, but this they refused to do, though the}' only waited till the soldiers 
were gone to put him on shore again. He was taken and the council decided 
that he must die, but when an old soldier was sent to slay him the old hero 
gazed at him and said, "Barest thou kill Caius Marius?" The man was so 
frightened that he ran away, crying out, " I cannot kill Caius Marius." 

The senate of Minturnae took this as an omen, and remembered besides 
tliat he had been a good friend to the Italians, so they conducted him through 
a sacred grove to the sea, and sent him off to Africa. On landing, he sent 
his son to ask' shelter from one of the Numidian princes, and while v.aiting 
for an answer he was harassed by a messenger from a Roman officer of low 
rank, forbidding his presence in Africa. He made no reply till the messenger 
pressed to know what to say to his master. Then the old man looked up, 
and sternly answered, " Say that you have seen Caius Marius sitting in the 
ruins of Carthage" — a grand rebuke for the insult to fallen greatness. Hut 
the Numidian could not receive him, and he could onl)' find shelter in a 
little island on the coast. 

There he soon heard that no sooner had Sulla embarked for the east 
than Rome had fallen into dire confusion. The consuls, Caius Octavius and 
Publius Cornelius Cinna, were of opposite parties, and had a furious fight, in 
whicli Cinna was driven out of Rome, and at the same time the Italians had 
begun anew social war. Marius saw that his time was come and he gathered 
a party of his friends and five hundred sla\-es and joined Cinna. They came 
to Rome and the senate admitted the consul Cinna, but when he took his seat 
old Marius was by his side clad in rags. They were bent upon terrible 
revenge, beginning with the consul Caius Octavius, who had disdained to flee, 
and whose head was severed from his body and displayed in the Forum, with 
many other senators of the noblest blood in Rome, who had offended either 
Marius or Cinna, or any of their fierce followers. Marius walked along in 
gloomy silence, answering no one ; but his followers were bidden to spare 
only those to whom he gave his hand to be kissed. The slaves pillaged the 
houses, murdered many on their own account, and everything was in the 
wildest uproar, till the two chiefs called in Sertorius with a legion to restore 
order. 

Then they named themselves consuls, without even asking- for an 



;8 HISTORY OF ROME. [1C9E.C. 

election, and thus Marius was seven times consul. He wanted to go out to 
the east and take the command from Sulla, but his health was too much 
broken, and before the year of his consulate was over he died. The last 
lime he had left the house, he had said to some friends that no man ought 
to trust again to such a doubtful fortune as his had been ; and then he 
took to his bed for seven days without any known illness, and there was 
found dead, so that he was thought to have starved himself to death. Cinna 
put in another consul, named Valerius Flaccus, and invited all the Italians to 
enroll themselves as Roman citizens. Then Flaccus went out to the east, 
meaning to take away the command from Sulla, who was hunting Mithridates 
out of Greece, which he had seized and held for a short time. But Flaccus' 
own army rose against him and killed him, and Sulla, after beating Mithri- 
dates, driving him back to Fontus and making peace with him, was now 
ready to come home. 

Sulla marched on toward Rome, furious at the resistance he met with, 
and determined on a terrible vengeance. He could not enter the city till he 
was ready to dismiss his army and have his triumph, so the senate came out 
to meet him in the temple of Bellona. As they took their seats they heard 
dreadful shrieks and cries. "No matter," said Sulla; "it is only some 
wretches being punished." The wretches were the eight thousand Samnite 
prisoners he had taken at the battle of Praeneste, and brought to be killed in 
the Campus Martius; and with these shocking sounds to mark that he was in 
earnest, the purple-faced general told the trembling senate that if they sub- 
mitted to him he would be good to them, but that he would spare none of 
his enemies, great or small. .\nd his men were alread\- in the city and coun- 
try, slaughtering not only the party of Marius, but every one against whom 
aiy one of them had a spite, or whose property he coveted. Marius' body, 
which had been buried and not burned, was taken from the grave and thrown 
into the Tiber ; and such horrible deeds were done that Sulla was asked in 
t:i3 senate where th^ execution was to stop. He showed a list of eighty 
more who had yet to die ; and the ne.xt day and the next he sent in two 
hundred and fifty more each. These lists were called proscriptions. Both 
consuls were slain and all the country laid waste, for the country suffered 
more than the cit\'. 

So he set to work to put matters as much as possible in the old order. 
So many of the senate had been killed that he had to make up the numbers 
by putting in three hundred knights ; and, to supply the lack of other citizens, 
after the hosts who had perished, he allowed the Italians to go on coming in 
to be enrolled as citizens ; and ten thousand slaves, who had belonged to his 
victims, were not only set free, but made citizens as his own clients, they 
taking the name of Cornelius. He also much lessened the power of the 
tribunes of the people, and made a law that when a man had once been a 
tribune he should never be chosen for any of the higher offices of the State. 
By these means he sought to keep up the old patrician power, on which he 
believed the greatness of Rome depended ; though, after all, the grand old 



70 B.C.] 



CxM.-EUS POMPEIUS.— JULIUS C.-ESAR. 



patrician families had mostly died off, and half the senate were only knights 
made noble. After this Sulla resigned the dictatorship, for he was growin" 
old, and had worn out his health by his excesses. Wnen he died he ordered 
his body to be burned that it might never be insulted as that of Marius' hatl 
been. The most promising of the men who were growing up and comin" 
forward was Cnaeus Pompeius, a brave and worthy man, who had while quite 
\'Oung gained such a victory over a Numidian prince that Sulla himself o-ave 
him the title of Magnus, or the Great. He was afterward sent to Spain, 
where Sertorius held out for eight years against the Roman power with the 
help of the native chiefs, but at last was put to death by his own followers. 



Things were altogether in a bad state. 



IX. 



(70 B.C.-44 B.C.) 

N.'EUS POMPEIUS MAGNUS and Lucius Licinius 
Crassus Dives were consuls together in the year 70 but 
Crassus, though he feasted the people at ten thousand 
tables, was envied and disliked, and would never have 
been elected but for Pompeius, who was a great favorite 
^,^___^- with the people, and so much trusted, both by them and 
I tjSSf^i^v*^ the nobles, that it seems to have filled him with pride, 
for he gave himself great airs, and did not treat his fellow-consul as 
an equal. When his term of office was over, the most pressing 
thing to be done was to put down the Cilician pirates. In the angle 
^ formed between Asia Minor and Syria, with plenty of harbors 
formed by the spurs of Mount Taurus, there had dwelt for ages 
past a horde of sea robbers, whose swift galleys darted on the 
merchant ships of Tyre and Alexandria ; and now, after the ruin of 
the Syrian kingdom, they had grown so rich that their state galleys 
had silken sails, oars inlaid with ivory and silver, and bronze prows. 
To enable Pompeius to overcome these pirates he was given the entire 
command of the Mediterranean Sea and fifty miles inland for three years. 
He divided the sea into thirteen commands and sent a party to fight the 
pirates in each. In forty days they were all driven out of the west end of 
the gulf. Then he defeated them in a sea fight, and when they came to 
terms he scattered them in small companies among the distant cities. 

A new war broke out with Mithridates and Pompeius was sent to finish 
the war which the consul Lucius Lucullus had began. He completed the 
conquest and drove the old king beyond the Caucasus and then marched into 
Syria, where he overthrew the last of the Scleucian kings, Antiochus, and made 




So HISTORY OF ROME. [70 B.C. 

Syria and Phcenicia into a Roman province. He then marched into Palestine 
to aid one of the Maccabees, and after besieging Jerusalem for three months 
took it on the Sabbath when the Jews would not fight. Pompeius insisted 
on going into the Holy of Holies but found it dark and empty. He did not 
plunder the treasur}' of the Temple, but the Jews remarked that, from the 
time of this daring entrance, his prosperity seemed to fail him. Before he 
left the East, however, old Mithridates, who had taken refuge in the Crimea, 
had been attacked by his own favorite son, and, finding that his power was 
gone, had taken poison ; but, as his constitution was so fortified by antidotes 
that it took no effect, he caused one of his slaves to kill him. 

The son submitted to the Romans, and was allowed to reign on the 
Bosphorus ; Pompeius had extended the Roman Empire as far as the 
Euphrates ; for though a few small kings still remained, it was only by 
saffrance from the Romans, who had gained thirty-nine great cities. Egypt, 
the Parthian kingdom on the Tigris, and Armenia in the mountains, alone 
remained free. While all this was going on in the East there was a very 
dangerous plot contrived at Rome by a man named Lucius Sergius Catilina, 
and seven other good-for-nothing nobles, for arming the mob, even the slaves 
and gladiators, overthrowing the government, seizing all the offices of state, 
and murdering all their opponents, after the example first set by Marius and 
Cinna in the previous century. 

Happily such secrets are seldom kept ; one of the plotters told the 
woman he was in love with, and she told one of the consuls, Marcus Tullius 
Cicero. Cicero was one of the wisest and best men in Rome, and the one 
whom we really know the best, for he left a great number of letters to 
his friends, which show us the real mind of the man. He was of the order 
of the knights, and had been bred up to be a lawyer and orator, and his 
speeches came to be the great models of Roman eloquence. He was a man 
of real conscience, and he most deeply loved Rome and her honor ; and 
though he was both vain and timid, he could put these weaknesses aside for 
the public good. Before all the senate he impeached Catilina, showing how 
fully he knew all that he intended. Nothing could be done to him by law 
till he had actually committed his crime, and Cicero wanted to show him that 
all was known, so as to cause him to flee and join his friends outside. 
Catilina tried to face it out, but all the senators began to cry out against him, 
and he dashed away in terror, and left the city at night. Cicero announced it 
the next day in a famous speech, beginning, " He is gone ; he has rushed 
away ; he has burst forth." Some of his followers in guilt were left at Rome, 
and just then some letters were brought to Cicero from Gaul which involved 
them in guilt, and nine of the worst were condemned to die. Cicero saw 
them executed and then went out to the people and said. " They have lived." 
Catilina collected an army of half-armed men, to the number of twenty 
thousand, and was met by the newly returned proconsul, Metellus, while the 
other consul was recalled from Macedonia with his army. As he was a friend 
of Catilina he did not choose to fight with him, and gave up the command to 



-44 B.C.] CN^US POMPEIUS.— JULIUS C.-ESAR. 8r 

liis lieutenant, by whom the wretch was defeated and slain. His head was 
cut off and sent to Rome. 

THE RIVALRY OF POMPEIUS AND CyESAR. 

Pompeius was coming home to receive a magnificent triumph after liis 
conquests in the East. Julius Cffisar, who was married to the sister of 
Pompeius, had divorced her, because he said that Caesar's wife must be above 
suspicion, and this caused the triumphant general to have an unkindly feeling 
toward Ccesar. The triumph was the most magnificent that Rome had ever 
seen and lasted two days. From this time the two became rivals, but Caesar 
knew that it would not do to make a move now. He would serve his 
consulate, then get a province as proconsul, and have time to gain a strong 
army. After he had served a year in Spain as propraetor Caesar came back 
and made friends with Pompeius and Crassus, giving his daughter Julia in 
marriage to Pompeius, and forming what was called a triumvirate, or union 
of three men. Thus he easily obtained the consulship, and showed himself 
the friend of the people by bringing in an agrarian law for dividing the 
public lands in Campania among the poorer citizens, not forgetting Pompeius' 
old soldiers ; also taking other measures which might make the senate 
recollect that Sulla had foretold that he would be another Marius and more. 
After this, he took Gaul as his province, and spent seven years in subduing it 
bit by bit, and in making two visits to Britain. He might pretty well trust 
the rotten state of Rome to be ready for his interference when he came back. 
Clodius had actually dared to bring Cicero to a trial for having put to death 
the friends of Catilina without allowing them to plead their own cause. 
Pompeius would not help him, and the people banished him four hundred 
miles from Rome, when he went to Sicily, where he was very miserable ; but 
his exile only lasted two years, and then better counsels prevailed, and he was 
brought home by a general vote, with great rejoicing. 

While affairs were going on with advantage to Rome in the provinces, at 
the city there was much confusion and strife. Pompeius had taken Spain for 
his province, but ruled it with a deputy. Crassus had been killed by the 
Parthians. Cassar was in Gaul. At Rome the civil strife continued, and 
Pompeius was chosen sole consul to put down the anarchy , and this he did 
for a short time, but all fell into confusion again while he was very ill of a 
fever at Naples, and even when he recovered there was a feeling that Cassar 
Wcis wanted. But Caesar's friends said he must not be called upon to give up 
his army unless Pompeius gave up his command of the army in Spain, and 
neither of them would resign. 

Caesar advanced with all his forces as far as Ravenna, which was still part 
of Cisalpine GauL and then the consul, Marcus Marcellus, begged Pompeius 
to protect the commonwealth, and he took up arms. Two of CjEsar's great 
friends, Marcus Antonius and Caius Cassius, who were tribunes, forbade this ; 
and when they were not heeded they fled to Caesar's camp asking his 
6 



82 HISTORY OF ROME. [70 B.C. 

protection. So he advanced. It was not lawful for an imperator, or general 
in command of an army, to come within the Roman territory with his troops 
except for his triumph, and the little river Rubicon was the boundary of 
Cisalpine Gaul. So when Caesar crossed it, he took the first step in breaking 
through old Roman rules. Though Caesar's army was but small, his fame 
was such that everybody seemed struck with dismay, even Pompeius himself, 
and instead of fighting he carried off all the senators of his party to the 
South, even to the extreme point of Italy at Brundusium. Caesar marched 
after them thither, having met with no resistance, and having, indeed, won all 
Italy in sixty days. As he advanced on Brundusium, Pompeius embarked on 
board a ship in the harbor and sailed away, meaning, no doubt, to raise 
an army in the provinces and return — some feared like Sulla — to take 
vengeance. 

Caesar was appointed dictator, and after crushing Pompeius' friends in 
Spain he pursued him into Macedonia, where Pompeius had been collectings 
all the friends of the old commonwealth. There was a great battle fought at 
Pharsalia, a battle which nearly put an end to the old government of Rome, 
for Caesar gained a great victory ; and Pompeius fled to the coast, where he 
found a vessel and sailed for Egypt. He sent a message to ask shelter at 
Alexandria, and the advisers of the young king pretended to welcome him, 
but they really intended to make friends with the victor ; and as Pompeius 
stepped ashore he was stabbed in the back, his body thrown into the surf, 
and his head cut off (48 B.C.). 

JULIUS C^SAR. 

The name of Caesar was now the greatest at Rome, and Cato and others 
thought that he would prove to be a second Marius. But he did not at once 
return to the city. He remained in the East to settle matters there and 
collect some money from the tributary States. He conquered Egypt and 
Pharnaces, and wrote his celebrated laconic letter: "Vent, vidi, vici" — I came, 
I saw, I conquered. He was appointed dictator a second time, and came 
home to settle matters in Rome, but he did not make any proscriptions, as 
Marius had before done, although he took away the property of those who 
opposed him. There was still a party of the senators and their supporters 
who had followed Pompeius in Africa, with Cato and Cnaeus Pompeius, the 
eldest son of the great leader, and Cffisar had to follow them thither. He 
gave them a great defeat at Thapsus, and the remnant took refuge in the city 
of Utica. They would have stood a siege, but the townspeople would not 
consent, and Cato sent(Off all his party by sea, and remained alone with his 
son and a few of his frier^s, to die by his own sword ere he came. 

So rejoiced was Romero fear no proscription, that temples were dedi- 
cated to Cjesar's clemency, and his image was to be carried in procession with 
those of the gods. He wasj named dictator for ten years, and was received 
witli four triumphs — over the Gauls, over the Egyptians, over Pharnaces, and 



44 B.C.] ■ CN.^US POMPEIUS.— JULIUS CESAR. 83 

over Juba, an African king who had aided Cato. Foremost of the Gauhsh 
prisoners was the brave Vercingetorix, and among the Egyptians Arsinoe, 
the sister of Cleopatra. A banquet was given at his cost to the whole 
people, and they were amused with all kind of shows. 

Caesar was now made dictator for ten years and consul for five and 
imperator of an army which was not to be disbanded. He saw that so 
vast an empire could not be ruled by two consuls changing every year. 
He made many changes in the form of government and admitted 
many new citizens. He made arrangements for a great survey of the 
provinces, governments, and tribute ; and he began to have the laws drawn 
up in regular order. In fact, he was one of the greatest men the world has 
ever produced, not only as a conqueror, but a statesman and ruler ; and 
though his power over Rome was not according to the laws, and had been 
gained by a rebellion, he was using it for her good. 

He was learned in all philosophy and science, and his history of his wars 
in Gaul has come down to our times. As a high patrician by birth, he was 
Pontifex Maximus, or chief priest, and thus had to fix all the festival days in 
each year. Now the year had been supposed to be only three hundred and 
fifty-five days long and the Pontifex put in another month or several days 
whenever he pleased, so that there was great confusion, and the feast days for 
the harvest and vintage came, according to the calendar, three months before 
there was any corn or grapes. To set this to rights, since it was now under- 
stood that the length of the year was three hundred and sixty-five days and 
six hours, Cssar and the scientific men who assisted him devised the fresh 
arrangement that we call leap year, adding a day to the three hundred and 
sixty-five once in four years. He also changed the name of one of the 
summer months and named it for himself. He did much to add to the glory 
of Rome and refused the royal crown when his flatterers offered it to him. 
But he did many things contrary to law, and these shocked the old Roman 
feelings and sense of right. 

He was preparing to lead an army to the extreme east where no one but 
Alexander had dared to go, but there were plotters at work ready to strike 
when the time should come. Caius Cassius, a tall lean man who recently had 
been praetor, was the chief of these conspirators, and with him was Marcus 
Junius Brutus, a descendant of him who overthrew the Tarquins, and 
husband to Porcia, Cato's daughter, also another Brutus named Decimus, 
hitherto a friend of Cssar, and newly appointed to the government of Cisal- 
pine Gaul. These and twelve more agreed to murder Caesar on the 15th of 
March, called in the Roman calendar the ides of March, when he went to the 
senate-house. Rumors got abroad and warnings came to him about that 
special day. His wife dreamt so terrible a dream that he had almost yielded 
to her entreaties to stay at home, when Decimus Brutus came in and laughed 
him out of it. As he was carried to the senate-house in a litter, a man gave 
him a writing and begged him to read it instantly ; but he kept it rolled in 
his hand without looking. As he went up the steps he said to the augur 



84 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



[zH B.C 



Spurius, " The ides of March are come. ' ' " Yes, Cassar," was the answer ; " but 
they are not passed." A few steps further on, one of the conspirators met 
him with a petition, and the others joined in it, clinging to his robe and his 
neck, till another caught his toga and pulled it over his arms, and then the 
first blow was struck with a dagger. Cfesar struggled at first as all fifteen 
tried to strike at him, but when he saw his friend among them he said, " Et tu 
Brute," and drew his toga over his face and fell dead at the foot of Pompey's 
statue. 

X. 







(44 B.C.-19 A.D.) 

'HE murderers of Caesar had expected the Romans to 
hail them as deliverers from a tyrant, but his great 
friend Marcus Antonius, who was together with him 
consul for that year, made a speech over his body as it 
lay on a couch of gold and ivory in the Forum ready for 
the funeral. Antonius read aloud Caesar's will, and 
showed what benefits he had intended for his fellow- 
citizens, and how he loved them, so that love for him and wrath 
against his enemies filled every hearer. The army, of course, 
were furious against the murderers ; the senate was terrified, 
and granted everything Antonius chose to ask, provided he 
would protect them, whereupon he begged for a guard for him- 
f-D self that he might be saved from Caesar's fate, and this they 
gave him; while the fifteen murderers fled secretly, mostly to 
Cisalpine Gaul, of which Decimus Brutus was governor. 
C'jJ' Caesar had no child but the Julia who had been wife to 

^ Pompeius, and his heir was his young cousin Caius Octavius, 
who changed his name to Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus, and, coming to 
Rome, demanded his inheritance, which Antonius had seized, declaring that 
it was public money; but Octavianus, though only eighteen, showed so much 
prudence and fairness that the senate looked with more favor on him than on 
Antonius. Cicero made a set of speeches against Antonius and denounced 
him as Demosthenes had done Phillip. Like these remarkable orations of 
the Greeks they were the last flashes of spirit in a sinking state. But it was 
too late ! The rotten institutions of his country were doomed. Octavius saw 
that it was for his interest to make friends with Antonius and another friend 
of Cjesar, Marcus .(Emilius Lepidus. They first pursued Decimus Brutus, and 
he was delivered up to Antonius and put to death. 

Soon after, Antonius, Lepidus, and Octavianus all met on a little island 
in the river Rhenus and agreed to form a triumvirate for five years for setting 
things to rights once more, all three enjoying consular power together; and. 



I9A.D.] THE TRIUMVIRATE.— THE EMPIRE. 85 

as they had the command of all the armies, there was no one to stop them. 
Lepidus was to stay and govern Rome, while the other two hunted down the 
murderers of Csesar in the East. But, first, there was a deadly vengeance to 
be taken in the city upon all who could be supposed to have favored the 
murderers of Csesar or had opposed their schemes. They agreed to write out 
a list for proscription, each one devoting one of his own friends to death. 
Octavianus tried to save Cicero the orator, but Antonius insisted on his death. 
He was slain and his head given to Antonius, whose wife, Fulvia, thrust her 
bodkin through his tongue which had spoken so eloquently against her 
husband. 

Antonius and Octavianus went to Greece, where Marcus Brutus had been 
kindly received and was regarded as a hero. He had had a statue erected in 
his honor at Athens, and it was set up beside that of Harmodius and Aristo- 
geiton, the slayers of Pisistratus. Cassius had plundered Asia Minor, and the 
two met at Sardis. It is said that the night before they were to pass into 
Macedonia, Brutus was sitting alone in his tent, when he saw the fieure of a 
man before him. " Who art thou?" he asked, and the answer was, " I am 
thine evil genius, Brutus; I will meet thee again at Philippi." And it was 
at Philippi that Brutus and Cassius found themselves face to face with 
Antonius and Octavianus. Each army was divided into two, and Brutus, 
prevailed against Octavianus, but Cassius was overcome and died by his 
own hand. Brutus joined the remnants of the two armies and held out for a 
time, but at last in despair fell upon his own sword and died. His wife killed 
herself when she heard of it. 

After this, Octavianus went back to Italy, while Antonius stayed to 
pacify the East. When he was at Tarsus, the lovely queen of Egypt came, 
resolved to win him over. She sailed up the Cydnus in a beautiful galley, 
carved, gilded, and inlaid with ivory, with sails of purple silk and silvered 
oars, moving to the sound of flutes, while she lay on the deck under a star- 
spangled canopy arrayed as Venus, with her ladies as nymphs, and little boys 
as cupids fanning her. Antonius was perfectly fascinated, and she took him 
back to Alexandria with her, heeding nothing but her and the delights with 
which she entertained him, though his wife, Fulvia, and his brother were 
struggling to keep up his power at Rome. He did come home, but only to 
make a fresh agreement with Octavianus, by which Fulvia was given up, and 
he married Octavia, the widow of Marcellus and sister of Octavianus. But 
he could not bear to stay long away from Cleopatra, and, deserting Octavia, 
he returned to Egypt, where the most wonderful revelries were kept up. 

After Octavianus and Lepidus had overcome Decimus, Lepidus endeavored 
to conquer Octavianus and take the whole government, but failed and was 
defeated and banished. Octavianus was a man of mild disposition and did 
not like to shed blood when he could avoid it. Now that he was alone in 
Rome he won the hearts of all by his gracious ways, while the scandals 
which came from Egypt turned all against Antonius. 

Octavia tried to win her husband back, but she was a grave, virtuous 



86 HISTORY OF ROME. [44 B.C. 

Roman matron, and coarse, dissipated Antonius did not care for her compared 
with the enticing Egj'ptian queen. It was needful at last for Octavianus to 
destroy this dangerous power, and he mustered a fleet and army, while 
Antonius and Cleopatra sailed out of Alexandria with their ships and gave 
battle off the cape of Actium. In the midst, either fright or treachery made 
Cleopatra sail away, and all the Egyptian ships with her, so that Antonius 
turned at once and fled with her. They tried to raise the East in their favor, 
but all their allies deserted them, and their soldiers went over to Alexandria, 
where Octavianus followed them. Then Cleopatra betrayed her lover, and 
put into the hands of Octavianus the ships in which he might have fled. She 
had poisoned herself with the sting of asps that were brought to her in a 
basket of figs. 

Octavianus was now left alone in the government, and though the old 
framework that had been standing for generations was still preserved, Octavi- 
anus had gathered all the functions of the magistrates in one. He was prince 
of the senate, which gave him command of the city ; praetor, which made 
him judge and gave him a special guard of soldiers, called the prstorian guard, 
to execute justice ; and tribune of the people, which made him their voice ; 
and even after his triumph he was still imperator, or general of the army. 
This word becomes in English, emperor, but it meant at this time merely com- 
mander-in-chief. He was also Pontifex Maximus, as Julius Caesar had been ; 
and there was a general feeling that he was something sacred and set apart as 
the ruler and peace-maker; and, as he shared this feeling himself, he took the 
name of Augustus, which is the one by which he is always known. 

He did not, however, take to himself any great show or state. He lived 
in his family abode, and dressed and walked about the streets like any other 
Roman gentleman of consular rank, and no special respect was paid to him in 
speech, for, warned by the fate of Julius, he was determined to prevent the 
Romans from being put in mind of kings and crowns. He was a wise and 
deep-thinking man, and he tried to cany out the plans of Julius for the benefit 
of the nation and of the whole Roman world. He had the survey finished of 
all the countries of the empire, which now formed a complete border round 
the Mediterranean Sea, reaching as far north as the British Channel, the Alps, 
and the Black Sea, as far south as the African desert, as far west as the 
Atlantic, and east as the borders of the Euphrates , and he also had a univer- 
sal census made of the whole of the inhabitants. It was the first time such a 
thing had been possible, for all the world was at last at peace, so that the 
temple of Janus was closed for the third and last time in Roman history. 
There was a feeling all over the world that a great deliverer and peaceful 
prince was to be expected at this time. One of the Sybils was believed to 
have so sung, and the Romans, in their relief at the good rule of Augustus, 
thought he was the promised one ; but they little knew why God had brought 
about this great stillness from all wars, or why He moved the heart of 
Augustus to make the decree that all the world should be taxed — namely, 



I9A.D.] THE TRIUMVIRATE.— THE EMPIRE. 87 

that the true Prince of Peace, the real deHverer, might be born in the home of 
his forefathers, Bethlehem, the city of David. 

He tried to bring back better ways to Rome, which was in a sad state, 
full of vice and riot, and with little of the old, noble, hardy ways of the 
former times. The educated men had studied Greek philosophy till they had 
no faith in their own gods. Learning was much esteemed in the time of 
Augustus. He and his two great friends, Caius Cilnius Maecenas and Vipsa- 
nius Agrippa, both had a great esteem for scholarship and poetry, and es- 
pecially the house of Maecenas was always open to literary men. The two 
chief poets of Rome, Publius Virgilius Maro and Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 
were warm friends of his. Vi.-gil wrote poems on husbandry, and short 
dialogue poems called eclogues, in one of which he spoke of the time of 
Augustus in words that would almost serve as a prophecy of the kingdom of 
him who was just born at Bethlehem. By desire of Augustus he also wrote 
the yEnctd, a poem on the war-doings of vEneas and his settlement in Italy. 

Horace wrote odes and letters in verse and satires, which show the habits 
and ways of thinking of his time in a very curious manner ; and there were 
many other writers whose works have not come down to us ; but the Latin of 
this time is the model of the language, and an Augustan age has ever since 
been a term for one in which literature flourishes. 

We have come down the line of Roman history to the birth of Christ, 
and find Augustus Caesar reigning over the whole world. The Greek language 
was spoken in all nations as the language of commerce and literature. 
General peace and prosperity prevailed, and Augustus was reverenced almost 
as a god. 

At length the peace was broken by the German tribes, and after Drusus, 
surnamed Germanicus, for his victories over them, had died, his brother, Tibe- 
rius, went to fight the Germans under their brave leader, Arminius. Under the 
proconsul. Varus, the Roman army was defeated, and Tiberius returned to 
Rome to tell the sad news, while Varus fell back and fortified the river Rhine. 
This was in the year 9 A.D. 

The news ofthis disaster was a terrible shock to the emperor. He sat 
grieving over it, and at times he dashed his head against the wall, crying, 
"Varus, Varus! give me back my legions." His friends were dead, he was an 
old man now, and sadness was around him. He was soon, however, grave 
and composed again; and, as his health began to fail, he sent for Tiberius and 
put his affairs into his hands. When his dying day came he met it calmly. 
He asked if there was any fear of a tumult on his death, and was told there 
was none ; then he called for a mirror, and saw that his gray hair and beard 
were in order, and, asking his friends whether he had played his part well, he 
uttered a verse from a play bidding them applaud his e.xit, bade Livia remem- 
ber him, and so died (19 A.D) in his seventy-seventh year, having ruled 
fifty-eight years — ten as a triumvir, forty-eight alone. 



XI. 




THE EMPEKORS AFTER AllJSTIJS, 

(19 A.D.-312 A.D.) 

HEN Augustus Caesar had died, the people and senate 

gave all the power which he had held to his step-son, 

Tiberius Claudius Nero, who had also the right to the 

name of Julius Csesar Augustus. 

Tiberius had been a grave, morose man ever since 

he was deprived of the wife he loved, and had lost his. 

brother; and he greatly despised the mean, cringing ways 

round him, and kept to himself; but his nephew, called Germanicus, 

after his father, was a person whom all loved and trusted. 

Germanicus earned his surname over again by driving Arminius 
back; but he was more enterprising than would have been approved 
by Augustus, who thought it wiser to guard what he had than to 
make wider conquests; and Tiberius was not only one of the same 
mind, but was jealous of the great love that all the army were showing 
for his nephew, and this distrust was increased when the soldiers in the 
East begged for Germanicus to lead them against the Parthians. He set out, 
visiting all the famous places in Greece by the way, and going to see the 
wonders of Egypt, but while he was gone he sickened and died. The people 
at Rome thought that their favorite had been poisoned by a spy sent after 
him by the emperor. 

It is strange to remember that while such dark deeds were being done at 
Rome, came the three years when the true Light was shining in the darkness- 
It was in the time of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilatus was propraetor of 
Palestine, that our Lord Jesus Christ spent three years in teaching and work- 
ing miracles ; then was crucified and slain by wicked hands, that the sin of 
mankind might be redeemed. Then he rose again from the dead and 
ascended into heaven, leaving his Apostles to make known what he had 
done in all the world. At length Tiberius fell ill, and when he was known to 
be dying he was smothered with pillows as he began to recover from a fainting 
fit, lest he should take vengeance on those who had for a moment thought 
him dead. He died A.D. 37, and the power went to Caligula, properly called 
Caius, who was only twenty-five, and who began in a kindly, generous spirit, 
which pleased the people and gave them hope ; but to have so much power 
was too much for his brain, and he can only be thought of as mad, especially 



3I2A.D.] THE EMPERORS AFTER AUGUSTUS. 89 

after he had a severe illness, which made the people so anxious that he was 
puffed up with his own importance. He recovered and put all to death who 
had offended him. Everybody was in danger, and at last a plot was formed 
for his death ; and as he was on his way from his house to the circus, and 
stopped to look at some singers who were going to perform, a party of men 
set upon him and killed him with many wounds, after he had reigned only 
five years, and when he was but thirty years old. 

Then Claudius, the uncle of Caligula, was made emperor. He was kind 
to the people in the distant provinces and gave the Jews a king, Herod 
Agrippa, and did much to restore Rome to quiet. He was unfortunate in 
his wives, and at last his own niece poisoned him that her own son might be 
emperor. This was in the year 54 A. D., — after the birth of Christ. This son 
took all the names of the two families, Claudian and Julian, but is commonly 
known as Nero. Rome was so vile and wicked that it almost seems that they 
deserved such a tyrant as Nero. He reigned till the year 68 A.D. and perished 
in a most miserable manner by the hand of a slave. In his life the great per- 
secutions against the Christians began, and raged with much fury. Saint 
Paul and Saint Peter, with an immense number of early Christians, perished 
by command of this cruel tyrant. He was the last of the Julian line. Otho, 
a soldier, became emperor, but the legions in Gaul marched against him and 
he slew himself to prevent bloodshed. 

When the Eastern army heard of these changes, they declared they would 
make an emperor like the soldiers of the West, and hailed Vespasian as- 
emperor. He left his son Titus to subdue Judea, and set out himself for 
Italy, where Vitellius had given himself up to riot and feasting. There was a 
terrible fight and fire in the streets of Rome itself, and the Gauls, who chiefly 
made up Vitellius* army, did even more mischief than the Gauls of old under 
Brennus ; but at last Vespasian triumphed. Vitellius was taken, and, after 
being goaded along with the point of a lance, was put to death. There had 
been eighteen months of confusion, and Vespasian began his reign in the 
year 70. 

It was just then that his son Titus, having taken all the strongholds ia 
Galilee, though they were desperately defended by the Jews, had advanced 
to besiege Jerusalem. The holy city was taken and the temple was burned, 
against the command of Titus, who desired to save the wonderful building. 
The city was utterly overthrown and sown with salt, and such treasures as 
could be saved from the fire were carried in the triumph of Titus when he 
returned to Rome. Vespasian was an upright man, and though he was stern 
and unrelenting his reign was a great relief after the capricious tyranny of 
the last Claudius. He and his eldest son, Titus, were plain and simple in their 
habits, and tried to put down the horrid riot and excess that were ruining the 
Romans, and they were feared and loved. They had great successes too. 
Britain was subdued and settled as far as the northern hills, and a great rising 
in Eastern Gaul subdued. Vespasian was accused of being avaricious, but 
Nero had left the treasury in such a state that he could hardly have governed 



go HISTORY OF ROME. [19A.D. 

without being careful. He died in the }-car 79, at seventy years old. When 
he found himself almost gone, he desired to be lifted to his feet, saying that 
an emperor should die standing. 

He left two sons, Titus and Domitian. Titus was more of a scholar than 
his father, and was gentle and kindly in manner, so that he was much beloved. 
Titus' reign was short, for he died the next year, and Tacitus, the historian, 
lays the blame of this on Domitian, who succeeded to the throne. He reigned 
until the year 96 A. D., detested by his people and afraid that they would 
conspire against him. He put so many people to death that he grew fright- 
ened lest vengeance should fall on him, and he had his halls lined with polished 
marble, that he might see as in a glass if any one approached him from 
behind. But this did not save him. His wife found that he meant to put 
her to death, and contrived that a party of servants should murder him. 
Domitian is called the last of the twelve Caesars, but the other emperors after 
him took the name. 

THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY. 

The next emperor was an upright old senator named Cocceius Nerva, who 
ruled in the old Roman spirit and persecuted the Christians in his zeal to 
restore the ancient religion and customs. Julius Trajanus, whom Nerva 
adopted, and who began to reign after him in 98, did not persecute actively, 
but there were laws in force against the Christians. When Pliny the younger 
was proprcetor of the province of Pontica in Asia Minor, he wrote to ask the 
emperor what to do about the Christians, telling him what he had been able 
to find out about them from two slave girls who had been tortured ; namely, 
that they were wont to meet together at night or early morning, to sing 
together, and eat what he called a harmless social meal. Trajan answered 
that he need not try to hunt them out, but that if they were brought before 
him the law must take its course. 

Trajan was so good a ruler that he bears the title of Optimus, the Best, 
as no one else has ever done. He was a great captain, too, and conquered 
Dacia, the country between the rivers Danube, Theiss and Pruth, and the 
Carpathian Hills ; and he also conquered the Parthians. He was on his way 
back from the East when, in 117, he died at Cilicia, leaving the empire to 
another brave warrior, Publius yEtius Hadrianus, who took the command with 
great vigor, but found he could not keep Dacia, and broke down the bridge 
over the Danube. He came to Britain, where the Roman settlements were 
tormented by the Picts. There he built the famous Roman wall from sea to 
sea to keep them out. 

Hadrian did not persecute the Church, and listened kindly to an explana- 
tion of the faith which was shown him at Athens by Quadraturus, a Christian 
philosopher. Before his death, in 138, he had chosen his successor, Titus 
Aurelius Antoninus, a good, upright man, a philosopher, and 52 years old : 
for it had been found that youths who became emperors had their heads 



3I2A.D.] THE EMPERORS AFTER AUGUSTUS. 91 

turned by such unbounded power, while elder men cared for the work and 
duty. Antonius was so earnest for his people's welfare that they called him 
Pius. He avoided wars, only defended the empire ; but he was a great builder, 
for he raised another rampart in Britain, much further north, and set up 
another column at Rome, and in Gaul built a great amphitheater at Nismes, 
and raised the wonderful aqueduct which is still standing, and is called the 
Pont du Gard. His son-in-law, whom he adopted and who succeeded him, is 
commonly called Marcus Aurelius, as a choice among his many names. He 
was a deep student and Stoic philosopher, with an earnest longing for truth 
and \-irtue, though he knew nothing of Christianity. Once his army was 
perishing with thirst when a whole legion, all Christian soldiers, knelt down 
and prayed. A cloud came up, a welcome shower of rain descended, and was 
the saving of the thirsty host. It was said that the name of the Thundering 
Legion was given to this division in consequence. After this there was less 
persecution, but every sort of trouble — plague, earthquake, famine and war — ■ 
beset the empire on all sides, and the emperor foiled in vain against these 
troubles, writing, meantime, meditations that show how sad and sick at heart 
he was, and how little comfort philosophy gave him, while his eyes were blind 
to the truth. He died of a fever in his camp, while still in the prime of life, 
in the year 180, and with him passed away the good emperors. 

The son of Aurelius indeed succeeded him, but he was a foolish, good-for- 
nothing youth named Commodus, and held the throne for only a short time. 
So completely had the old Roman spirit been lost that the senate offered the 
throne to him who would pay the highest price for it. A vain, old, rich sena- 
tor, named Didius Julianus, was at supper with his family when he heard that 
the praetorians were selling the empire by auction, and out he ran, and actu- 
ally bought it at the rate of about i^200 to each man. The emperor being 
really the commander-in-chief, with other offices attached to the dignity, the 
soldiers had a sort of right to the choice ; but the other armies at a distance, 
who were really fighting and guarding the empire, had no notion of letting 
the matter be settled by the praetorians, mere guardsmen, who stayed at home 
and tried to rule the rest ; so each army chose its own general and marched 
on Rome, and it was the general on the Danube, Septimus Severus, who got 
there first ; whereupon the praetorians killed their foolish emperor and joined 
him. 

Severus made an able emperor, and ruled until 211 A.D. His wife was 
named Julia Domna, and he left two sons, usually called Caracalla and Geta, 
who divided the empire ; but Geta was soon stabbed by his brother's own 
hand, and then Caracalla showed himself even worse than Commodus, till he 
in his turn was murdered in 217. 

Elagabus ruled after him and was a harsh coarse man. After him came 
Alexander his cousin, whom he had adopted, and who took the surname 
Severus. 

Alexander Severus was a good and just prince, whose mother is believed 
to have been a Christian, and he had certainly learned enough of the divine 



92 HISTORY OF ROME. [19 a.d. 

law to love virtue, and be firm while he was forbearing. He loved virtue,^ 
but he did not accept the faith, and would only look upon our blessed Lord 
as a sort of great philosopher, placing his statue with that of Abraham, 
Orpheus, and all whom he thought great teachers of mankind, in a private 
temple of his own, as if they were all on a level. He never came any 
nearer to the faith, and after thirteen years of good and firm government he 
was killed in a mutiny of the praetorians in 235. 

These guards had all the power, and set up and put down emperors so 
rapidly that there are hardly any names worth remembering. In the 
unsettled state of the empire no one had time to persecute the Christians, and 
their numbers grew and prospered ; in many places they had churches, with 
worship going on openly, and their bishops were known and respected. The 
Emperor Philip, called the Arabian, who was actually a Christian, though he 
would not own it openly, when he was at Antioch joined in the service at 
Easter, and presented himself to receive the Holy Communion ; but Bishop 
Babylas refused him, until he should have done open penance for the crimes 
by which he had come to the purple, and renounced all remains of 
heathenism. He turned away rebuked, but put off his repentance ; and 
the next year celebrated the games called the Seculje, because they took 
place every seculum or hundredth year, with all their heathen ceremonies, 
and with tenfold splendor, in honor of this being Rome's thousandth 
birthday. 

All the while the new religion was spreading, and people of every rank 
were embracing it. With many vicissitudes the praetorian guard kept up 
its influence, making and killing emperors so rapidly that we can not give a 
list of them, until at last the power of the praetorians was broken by 
Diocletian, who divided the empire and placed a soldier of great courage 
but ignoble birth over the western part. His name was Maximian. 
Diocletian was esteemed the most just and kind of the emperors; Maximian, 
the fiercest and most savage. He had a bitter hatred of the Christian name, 
which was shared by Galerius ; but on the other hand, the wife of Diocletian 
was believed to be a Christian, and Helena, the wife of Constantius, was 
certainly one. However, Maximian and Galerius were determined to put 
down the faith. Maximian is said to have had a whole legion of Christians 
in his army, called the Theban, from the Egyptian Thebes. These he 
commanded to sacrifice, and on their refusal had them decimated — that is, 
every tenth man was slain. They were called on again to sacrifice, but still 
were staunch, and after a last summons were, every man of them, slain as 
they stood with their tribune, Maurice, whose name is still held in high 
honor in the Engadine. Diocletian was slow to become a persecutor, until a 
fire broke out in his palace at Nicomedia, which did much mischief in the 
city, but spared the chief Christian church. The enemies of the Christians 
accused them of having caused it, and Diocletian required every one in his 
household to clear themselves by offering sacrifice to Jupiter. His wife and 



3I2A.D.] THE EMPERORS AFTER AUGUSTUS. 93 

daughter yielded, but most of his officers and slaves held out, and died in 

cruel torment. 

Diocletian wished to resign, and he persuaded Maximian to retire from 
the government with him in 305 A.D., appointing Constantius and Galerius 
emperors in their stead. The Franks, one of the Teuton nations, were 
constantly breaking in on the eastern frontier of Gaul, and the Caledonians 
on the northern border of the settlement of Britain. Constantius opposed 
them gallantly, and was much loved, but he died at York, 305, and Galerius 
passed'' over his son Constantine, and appointed a favorite of his own 
named Licinius. Constantine was so much beloved by the army and people 
•of Gaul that they proclaimed him emperor, and he held the province of 
Britain and Gaul securely against all enemies. 

Old Maximian, who had only retired on the command of Diocletian, 
now came out from his retreat, and called on his colleague to do the same ; 
but Diocletian was far too happy on his little farm at Salona to leave it, 
and answered the messenger who urged him again to take upon him the 
purple with—" Come and look at the cabbages I have planted." However, 
Maximian was accepted as the true emperor by the senate, and made his son 
Maxentius, Caisar, while he allied himself with Constantius, to whom he 
gave his daughter Fausta in marriage. Maxentius turned out a rebel, and 
drove the old man away to Marseilles, where Constantine gave him a home 
on condition of his not interfering with government. He could not, and 
finally Constantine was forced to put him to death. Galerius died soon after 
this in great remorse at his cruelties to the Christians. 

Then there began a great struggle between Maxentius, who had seized 
the government at Rome, and Constantine. The latter marched to Italy, 
and is said to have seen a bright cross of light at midday with the words 
" In hoc signo viiiccs "—by this sign you may conquer— around it. He became 
a Christian, and from this time promised the Christians his favor and 
protection. He entered Rome and was proclaimed as emperor of the 
West. 



XII. 



MODERN EOME ADD THE CIEGH, 



(312-1884.) 

»HE first gteneral council, or, as it is called, CECumenical 

council, was called by Constantine, who was now sole 

emperor of the whole Roman empire at Nicea, a city 

in Asia Minor. He paid the expense of all the 

bishops, who came from every part of the world. A 

creed was here drawn up which is known as the Nicean 

Creed. Three hundred bishops at once set their seals 

to it, and of those who at first refused all but two were won 

over, and these were banished. It was then that the faith of 

the Church began to be called catholic, or universal, and 

orthodox, or straight teaching ; while those who attacked it 

were called heretics, and their doctrine heresy, from a Greek 

word meaning to choose. 

After this Arius went to Constantinople to ask the emperor 
to insist on his being received back to communion. He declared 
that he believed that which he held in his hand, showing the 
creed of Nicea, but keeping hidden under it a statement of 
his own heresy. " Go," said Constantine ; " if your faith agree with your 
oath, you are blameless; if not, God be your judge;" and he commanded 
that Arius should be received to communion the next day, which was 
Sunday. But on his way to church, among a great number of his friends 
Arius was struck with sudden illness and died in a few minutes. The 
emperor, as well as the Catholics, took this as a clear token of the hand of 
God, and Constantine was cured of any leaning to the Arians, though he 
still believed the men who called Athanasius factious and troublesome, and 
therefore would not recall him from exile. 

This was the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church, which came 
at last to control all the destinies of those kingdoms and empires which made 
up what is called Christendom. After the time of Constantine, with the 
exception of the reign of Julian, the apostate, all the emperors of Rome were 
friendly to Christianity, and by the aid of missionaries the new religion 
spread to the barbarous nations lying to the north and eastward. The fierce 
Goths came from beyond the Alps and devastated the country of Rome, 
destroying the last vestige of the old Roman religion, burning the temples 




1884] MODERN ROME AND THE CHURCH. 95 

and overthrowing the altars, and these were never rebuilt. The division 
between the East and West came, in which the Greek Church threw off the 
supremacy of the Roman pontiff and established their capital at Constanti- 
nople, as we have said in the " History of Modern Greece." The kings of 
France and Germany took the part of the popes or contended with them, as 
their interests might seem to dictate, until at last the temporal power of the 
pope was acknowledged as binding upon all nations. The pope, for the time 
being, was superior to king or emperor, and each was obliged to receive his 
crown from the hands of the Roman pontiff. Large revenues were collected 
for the Church, and her coffers were filled with the wealth of Europe. The 
Catholic religion was enforced by law upon all people. Wars arose between 
nations, but the popes interfered on one side or another, and compelled peace 
upon the terms they dictated. All this becomes a part of the history of 
modern Europe, and upon this much information will be found in the three 
histories contained in this work. 

At length came the reformation of Luther the German, and the nations, 
aroused from their sleep of centuries, began to throw ofi the chains of Rome. 
Protestantism was established and gradually the popes lost their temporal 
power till they had possession of ten small States in Italy with Rome as their 
capital. They held the city of Rome for more than a thousand years. This 
long history of a thousand years is filled with deeds of blood and persecution 
in the name of religion, in which all sides were at fault. These form the 
annals of medieval history, and during this time many nations had risen and 
many had fallen. Northern Italy had been formed into the kingdom of 
Lombardy, and Southern Italy had endeavored to regain her liberty. At last 
Pope Pius IX., in 1848, had left Rome in fear of his life, because the Italians 
had risen against him, led by the king of Sardinia. The French army was 
sent to restore him, and the Italians were sadly disappointed. But Rome 
was retaken from them, and Pius IX. was restored to his throne in the 
Vatican, upheld by the strength of French arms. Thus he continued as a 
temporal prince and the spiritual head of the Church until after the defeat of 
the French emperor, Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III.), by the Germans in 
1 87 1, when the French troops were withdrawn from Rome, and the Italians 
at once were ready to assert their rights and rise against him. Victor 
Emanuel, who had been proclaimed king of Italy in 1861, was admitted into 
the city of Rome, and acknowledged as its king. Pius IX. was thus deprived 
of the last vestige of his temporal power but allowed to retain his position as 
the head of the Church, but he retired to the Vatican and chose to regard 
himself as a prisoner until his death, on the 7th of February, 1878. 

On the 20th of the same month the new pope was elected, forty-five 
votes being given for him out of a total of sixty cast by the cardinals. The 
choice of this majority fell upon Cardinal Joachim Pecci, a,rchbishop of 
Perugia, who was crowned at St. Peter's on the 3d of March, 1878, under the 
title of Leo XIII. Of the life of the pope but a few facts need be stated. 
He is a native of the pontifical States, bom at Carpineto, March 2d, 18 10. 



96 



HISTORY OF ROME. 



[1884 



Having developed superior ability as a delegate, he was appointed nuncio to 
Jielgium, an honor which preceded his promotion to the archbishopric of 
Perugia, on the 19th of March, 1846. Subsequently, as cardinal as well as 
archbishop, he became eligible to the popedom, and was elected as before 
stated. His first official act as pope was to restore the hierarchy in Scotland. 
In April, 1878, he issued his first encyclical letter. His relations with the 

Italian government have been essentially the 
same as those of his predecessor. His negoti- 
ations with the governments of Germany and 
Switzerland have had for their object the im- 
provement of the relations of the Roman 
Catholic Church with them, with the view to 
the better condition of the Church in those 
countries. They are considered to have been 
undertaken and conducted with diplomatic wis- 
dom and skill, and to have been successful to 
a degree. 

The visitor to modern Rome can find 

many things of great interest in art, science 

, and history connected with the different phases 

of its wonderful past. If he walk the streets 

1 Eo XIII. filled with their rich associations and studies 

the wonderful buildings there, he may dwell on the old or the new, the pagan 

or the Christian, as his mind leads him, or else on that strange middle time 

when idolatry and Christianity were struggling together. 








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